Kenneth Marc Ludmerer

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This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch funded from 2006 - 2009 by the American Legacy Foundation.

Kenneth Marc Ludmerer, M.D. in 1991 was an Associate Professor of Medicine in the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, and an Associate Professor of History in the University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He serves as a witness for the defense (for cigarette companies) in trials against the tobacco industry. He testified in the trial of Rose Defrancesco Cipollone. He testifies that prior to the 1950s, there was no "reliable scientific or medical evidence that cigarette smoking posed a serious threat to the public health. [1][2]He admitted in the Cipollone case that in coming to this conclusion, he only reviewed publicly-available medical literature, and did not ask for or see any internal tobacco industry documents on this subject.[3]

Work for the tobacco industry

Ludmerer has served as a past president of the American Association for the History of Medicine, and has quietly worked as an expert witness for tobacco companies since the late 1980s. In a deposition given during for his work as an expert witness in USA v Philip Morris Inc., et al, the federal government's racketeering case against the tobacco industry, Ludmerer admitted to having worked on at least thirteen separate trials over 15 years, always for the defense, and that he earned over $500,000 dollars in aggregate for his testimony during that time.[4][5]

Dr. Ludmerer testified that he charges the industry $350/hour, and $3,500/day if he stays overnight. [6]

Biography

MR. Ludmerer was an Expert of State of the Art and he gave a deposition for the Cipollone v. Liggett, et al case on two different dates, one part was 196 pgs on 3/25/91 and the other was 220 pgs on 3/26/91. (PMI's Revised Initial Disclosure, June 27, 1996). He was used as an expert in the Mississippi case.


References

  1. Declaration of Kenneth M Ludmerer, MD [Exhibit Ludmerer K, 3/26/91, ex 13], Legal document/testimony. January, 1991. Liggett Bates No. LG0026892-LG0026894
  2. Kenneth Ludmere, M.D. Report. June, 1997. 1 page. Bates No. 82526798
  3. Ludmerer, KA Afternoon Session Deposition/trial transcript. March, 1991. 121 pp, starting at page 127 Bates No. 85755995/6115 (starting at Bates page no. --6046)
  4. Ludmerer K. Deposition in USA v Philip Morris Inc et al, filed with U.Ss District Court for District of Columbia, Civil Action #99-2496 (GK), Aug 8, 2002
  5. Robert N. Proctor, Department of History, Pennsylvania State University Should Historians Be Working for the Tobacco Industry? History News Network, March 21, 2005
  6. Deposition of Kenneth Ludmerer, M.D., August 8, 2002, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. PHILIP MORRIS USA INC. Deposition. August 8, 2002. Bates No. LUDMERERK080802, at page 255

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