Reports that Matter

United States v. Philip Morris USA Inc.: Amended Final Opinion

TMSC – Tobacco Manufacturers' Standing Committee

Section 32 of 129

TMSC – Tobacco Manufacturers' Standing Committee

  1. On February 12, 1954, the British Minister of Health made a statement before the House of Parliament regarding the report of a special committee appointed by the British Health Ministry suggesting that the statistical evidence pointed to a possible causal relationship between smoking and lung cancer. The British tobacco manufacturers in the United Kingdom approached the Minister of Health and, on his advice, agreed to donate £250,000, to be spread over seven years, to the Medical Research Council for research into smoking and lung cancer. Brandt WD, 76:1-12; 110070785-0842 at 0788 (US 20270); 321310317-0342 (JD 031027); (no bates) (JD 011382).
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  1. In March 1954, John Hill of Hill & Knowlton, TIRC's public relations counsel, and Alan Campbell-Johnson, the London associate of Hill & Knowlton, met with D.M. Oppenheim, BATCo Chairman; Robert Sinclair, Imperial Tobacco Chairman; and E.P. Partridge, Imperial Tobacco Director and Secretary, to discuss the newly-formed TIRC and a possible relationship between TIRC and the tobacco manufacturers in the United Kingdom. Hill outlined proposed plans, policies, functions, and responsibilities for TIRC, the TIRC SAB, and the TIRC Research Director, and showed the group proofs of the about-to-be published white paper (detailed discussion of Hill & Knowlton/TIRC white paper at Section III(B), supra). The British executives offered suggestions for changes to the white paper because "[q]uite naturally the British Tobacco group is vitally interested in what we do because the repercussions of what happens in the United States will affect Great Britain and vice versa." Timothy Hartnett, President of B&W, and other members of the TIRC Board "had asked [Hill] to discuss with [the BATCo and Imperial Tobacco executives] the possibility of some form of liaison between the two groups" and to suggest

that this could be worked through Hill & Knowlton, Inc. and our London Associate Campbell-Johnson, or in any other way they might suggest. The reaction to the idea of liaison was most favourable.

TLT0900159-0161 (US 87720). The arrangement by which Campbell-Johnson would "act as liaison through which the British industry could clear information regarding developments which it desired to communicate to TIRC" was confirmed by Timothy Hartnett when he was in London later in the spring of 1954. TLT0902041-2064 at 2060 (US 88360).

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  1. In June 1956, the Tobacco Manufacturers' Standing Committee ("TMSC") was formed by BATCo and other United Kingdom tobacco manufacturers, giving

formal status to the co-operation in research of the group of manufacturers who in 1954 made a donation of £250,000 to the Medical Research Council for investigation into the causes of lung cancer.

Its stated purpose was

to assist research into questions concerned with the relationship between smoking and health, to keep in touch with scientists and others working on this subject in the United Kingdom and abroad, and to make information available to scientific workers and the public.

Geoffrey F. Todd was appointed Director of TMSC. Alan Campbell-Johnson, Hill & Knowlton's London associate, was appointed public relations consultant to TMSC. TSMC occupied a position in the United Kingdom analogous to the position of TIRC in the United States. 110070785-0842 at 0788-0789 (US 20270); TLT0900822-0825 (87725); (no bates) (JD 011382); Read TT, 3/21/05, 16327:25-16328:14.

  1. As of August 31, 1959, the members of TMSC were Anthony McCormick and D.M. Oppenheim of BATCo; Alexander H. Maxwell; E.R. Adler of Carreras; R.S.W. Clark and E.J. Partridge of Imperial Tobacco; E.J. Foord of Gallahers; P.A.G. Phillips of Godfrey Phillips, Ltd.; J. Wallington of Ardath Tobacco Co., Ltd.; and F.H. Wright of J. Wix & Sons, Ltd. TMSC also had a Technical Subcommittee which was comprised of members of the various UK tobacco manufacturers. (no bates) (US 47043).
209
  1. In June 1957, the Medical Research Council in England issued a statement, supplemented by a statement from the Minister of Health, condemning tobacco as a major cause of lung cancer and calling for a program by local health authorities and their education departments that would inform the general public of the risks of smoking. CTR-TIRC-MIN000001-0252 at 0130 (JD

093292).

  1. TMSC member companies in the United Kingdom and TIRC member companies in the United States coordinated their efforts to promote the open question on the relationship between smoking and disease and to deny causation. After Timothy Hartnett, TIRC Chairman, traveled to

England to meet with TMSC members in June 1956, Campbell-Johnson wrote to John Hill that

Hartnett's "presence at that particular moment should do much materially to help to get relations between TIRC and the new committee [TMSC] off to a good start." Campbell-Johnson ended the letter by counseling that:

[C]lose thought is needed on the relationship between TIRC and TMSC and the public relations implications of this are clearly left to our discretion to consider. While it is fully appreciated that the operations are, in fact, and should appear to be entirely separate, there clearly will be occasions when pronouncements emanating from one or other side of the Atlantic, from our respective authorities, can be usefully promoted at both ends. There now exists a potential interest in TIRC dicta on this side of the Atlantic and perhaps in TMSC statements on your side.

TLT0900822-0825 (US 87725).

  1. Minutes of a November 15, 1960 TIRC meeting state, in part:

A close working relationship is maintained with the Tobacco Manufacturers' Standing Committee in England, which organization parallels the TIRC. Although methods of operation are considerably different, our cooperation, both in research and public relations, has proven very valuable.

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CTR-TIRC-MIN000001-0252 at 0183 (JD 093292).

  1. Representatives from TMSC, which included BATCo representatives, came to the United States in 1958 and met with representatives from TIRC, American, Liggett, and Philip Morris, among others. Clarence Cook Little, the first scientific director of TIRC, was among the individuals interviewed. A memorandum, drafted by BAT representatives and titled "Report on Visit to U.S.A. and Canada, 17th April-12th May 1958," demonstrated that although "Defendant manufacturers continued to assert publicly that there was no proof that cigarette smoking caused any disease," these public positions clearly "did not accord with the private views of their own scientists." 105408490-8499 at 8492 (US 21135); Harris WD, 99:15-100:9.

  2. G.F. Todd, Director of TMSC, attended a number of TIRC SAB meetings in the 1960s. CTRMIN-SAB000001-1061 at 0187, 0190, 0206, 0207, 0230 (JD 090960).

  3. In 1963, TMSC decided to conduct its own smoking and health research program. To reflect that fact, TMSC was renamed the Tobacco Research Council in January, but retained the same purpose and mission as its predecessor. 321310317-0342 (JD 031027); Read TT, 3/21/05, 16327:25-16328:14.