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Memos talk of hiding data
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September 18, 1996: 8:15 a.m. ET
Report: Lawsuit alleges Philip Morris execs discussed destroying documents
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) -- Tobacco company executives and researchers allegedly discussed the need to "destroy" or "bury" findings of studies about nicotine's addictiveness and other sensitive issues, according to reports published on Wednesday.
According to the Washington Post, documents filed by the state of Minnesota and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota in a lawsuit against tobacco companies reveal "an extraordinary array of evidence of destruction" or "partial destruction" of documents related to scientific research at Philip Morris Cos. Philip Morris is the leading U.S. cigarette maker.
Minnesota and 15 other states are suing Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. to recoup the costs of treating smoking-related illnesses. The states argue that tobacco companies covered up essential information proving that nicotine, a main ingredient in cigarettes, is addictive.
The companies have long denied any wrongdoing or knowledge that nicotine is addictive.
But, the newspaper said, these latest documents related to the lawsuits suggest that certain company officials tried to suppress information. In one document sent by nicotine researcher William L. Dunn Jr. to Philip Morris research director Thomas S. Osdene, Dunn wrote that if the results of nicotine on a female subject proved to be similar to those from morphine or caffeine, "We will want to bury it."
Dunn told the newspaper his comment was "not written in all seriousness" and that Philip Morris researchers have always prided themselves on being objective. He called the idea that he would suppress information "absolutely absurd."
Other internal documents described by the newspaper show that the companies placed a premium on secrecy. Philip Morris executives, for example, made efforts to distance the company from its biological research facility in Cologne, Germany. A handwritten letter that appeared to be from Osdene, according to the filing, states that "If important letters or documents have to be sent (from Germany to the U.S.), please send them to home -- I will act on them & destroy."
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