IAPAG/CEHHT (Doc Index)
|
This stub is a work-in-progress by the ScienceCorruption.com journalists's group. We are indexing the millions of documents stored at the San Francisco Uni's Legacy Tobacco Archive [1] With some entries you'll need to go to this site and type into the Search panel a (multi-digit) Bates number. You can search on names for other documents also. Send any corrections or additions to editor@sciencecorruption.com |
 |
This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch funded from 2006 - 2009 by the American Legacy Foundation. |
This is the document index for three closely related tobacco industry support organisations operated by a group of scientists at Georgetown University. The leaders of this group were Philip Witorsch, Sorell L Schwartz and Nancy Balter. The organisations they created were:
- Indoor Air Pollution Advisory Group (IAPAG) - the faux scientific society
- Center for Environmental Health and Human Toxicology (CEHHT)- the private consulting firm, pretending to be a university department.
- it was also occasionally known by the original name (and as short-hand): Center for Environmental Health.
- International Center for Toxicology & Medicine (ICTM) - an outside private consulting firm set up after the retirement of the principals - it acted for many industries.
The CEHHT and IAPAG essentially provided industries with environmental or health problems with expert witnesses willing to testify that any product was safe, and that there was doubt about the science which said otherwise. The group also ran a large database for the tobacco industry.
Documents & TimeLine
1985 The Curriculum Vitae of CEHHT's co-founder Sorell L Schwartz has been set to Philip Morris. It lists both the CEHHT and the US Naval Medical Research Institute. There are about a dozen copies of this C/V in various tobacco company files so he must have caused considerable excitement at the prospect of having him on board. [2]
Also at about the same time the Curriculum Vitae of the other co-founder Philip Witorsch was also sent to Philip Morris.[3]
Also a Curriculum Vitae of Nancy J Balter who became the main administrator. She lists here positions as 'Research Associate Professor of Biology at Georgetown Uni and "Associate Scientific Director of the CEHHT. [4]
1985/E (mid-1980s) Shook Hardy & Bacon's Apr 1991 overview of the CEHHT's history says:
- James Goold [Lawyer with RJ Reynolds] states that the concept of the Center for Environmental Health goes back to the mid-1980s. He maintains that the original proposal or authorization regarding the Center for Environmental Health involvement may have been presented either to the Committee of Counsel or to the Executive Committee.
1986 Jun Carol Vitarelli, Projects Coordinator, Center for Environmental Health is enrolled in the Tobacco Institute's College of Knowledge [6]
This undated document is on CEHHT letterhead, but includes the IAPAG also - obviously linking the two. It is a membership list (for both? or either?) Members - Indoor Air Pollution Advisory Group
- Ahmed E Ahmed, PhD --Assoc. Professor of Pathology Pharmacology and Preventive Medicine, Uni of Texas
- Nancy J Balter, PhD -- Research Associate, Department of Biology, Georgetown University (main administrator of IAPAG)
- Vincent Castranova, PhD -- Assoc. Prof in Department of Physiology, West Virginia Uni (Biochemistry Appalachian Lab of Occ Health/Safety)
- Salvatore R DiNardi, PhD -- Assoc. Prof of Public Health, Uni of Massachusetts Amherst
- S James Kilpatrick, PhD -- Prof, Department of Biostatistics, Med College of Virginia
- Guenter Oberdoerster, DVM PhD -- Assoc Prof of Toxicology, Dept of Radiation Biology and BiophysicsUniversity of Rochester
- Jack E Peterson, PhD -- Prof in Allied Health, University of Wisconsin + Preventive Medicine Medical College of Wisconsin + Peterson Associates
- Mark J Reasor, PhD -- Prof Dept of Pharmacology and Toxicology, West Virginia University
- Gray Robertson, -- Principle of the air-testing company ACVA (later HBI) favoured by the tobacco industry
- Sorell L Schwartz, PhD -- Prof of Pharmacology, Georgtown University School of Medicine (co-organiser, and head of IAPAG)
- Kingsley M Stevens, MD -- A doctor with the Veterans Admin Medical Center, Northport, NY
- David A Weeks,MD -- (Adjunct) President of 'Per-Med Corporation' in Boise Idaho
- Myron Weinberg, PhD -- Wienberg Consulting Group, later WashTech)
- Philip Witorsch -- (head of IAPAG and CEHHT) (later brother Raphael Witorsch also) [7]
- [Note that the presence of Gray Robertson (who ran a fake air-testing company and had no academic credentials), David Weeks (a consultant only), and Myron Weinberger (who ran a science recruiting company only) shows that the CEHHT was entirely a creature set up to service the tobacco industry in its early stages.]
- [Also worth noting is that most participants were "Associate Professors" with only PhDs at the lesser universities (which probably didn't pay well]
1986 Jun 12-13 The Tobacco Institute's training organisation, the College of Tobacco Knowledge lists the student profiles:Carol M. Viterelli
Project coordinator, Center for Environmental Health, D.C. [This must be the CEHHT - but her single name is not on any other list] Carol works on behalf of TI planning and arranging details for scientific witnesses, legislative testimonies and attendance at scientific meetings. She also involves herself in projects relating to environmental tobacco smoke. [8]
1986 Jun 23. Walter Woodson of the Tobacco Institute's State Activities Division fills the new director of Federal Relations in on the role played by the Indoor Air Pollution Advisory Group (IAPAG) -- the first secret group of funded scientists (WhiteCoats) who work as consultants and witnesses for the tobacco industry through the lawyers Covington & Burling.
[9]One important part of my role is providing IAPAG with political intelligence, e.g., does a member of the legislative panel have a particular axe to grind about tobacco, what is the legislative history of the measure in question? This is the sort of info more properly provided by TI staff than, say, C&B. Attached for your review is a form field staff must fill out before IAPAGers appear in their regions.
Also attached is a copy of the running tab of events I keep.
This memo was prompted by a conversation today with the IAPAG coordinator, Carol Vitarelli (333-3638). Carol works with Schwartz, Witorsch, et al coordinating appearances, testimony and the like.
1986 Dec 10 CEHHT had been advising Koop on ETS - 2501052395A/2397
1987 Jan 31 - Feb: These are Tobacco Institute accounts. It is not easy to untangle Savarese's personal payments from Savarese & Associates (with its laundering of economists' payments) and Ogilvy & Mather. His payments are mixed up with checks made to ACVA Atlantic, which was Gray Robertson's fake air-testing company; Fleishman-Hillard, the PR firm which ran the Tobacco Institute's media tours, and a couple of law firms which provided lobbying services and protected clients from legal discovery by laundering payments. Payments are also made to a number of corrupt scientists (Theodore Sterling, Nathan Mantel, David Weeks and Chalres Waite) and to many others in the IAPAG group through the Center for Environmental Health and Human Toxicology (CEHHT) at Georgetown university. [10]
1987 Feb 17 CEHHT was paid $71,585.14 for services to the Tobacco Institute. Ten days later (27th Feb) it was paid another $75,233. This appers to be laundering of standard monthly retainers to the IAPAG group. [11]
1987 Mar Center for Environmental Health and Human Toxicology
- CEHHT is recruiting scientists in Scandanavia 2023542584
- CEHHT Witorsch, Raphael, Handled by TI 2045690096
1987 Mar 19 This report by Peter Sparber to Sam Chilcote, President of the Tobacco Institute, is an attempt to analyse the successes and failures of "ETS Scientific Witness program" which he says Covington & Burling were required to "rapidly create."
The Tobacco Institute's Budget Summary papers for the year 1986 show that the CEHHT (probably includes IAPAG) was generating $1.031 million in revenues from the Tobacco Institute. [12]Although there seems to be a sense that these monies are just for the scientific witnesses, checks were drawn against that budget in 1986 for some 12 individuals or organizations in addition to the Center for Environmental Health and Human Toxicology, the group representing the witnesses.
1988 Jan 9 Pay Request for a database project being run by the CEHHT. Note that this has been sent to the Tobacco Institute lawyers Covington & Burling.Payments were made to
- Sorell Schwartz -- $2,800
- Nancy Balter -- $2,625
- Philip Witorsch -- $2,800 -- (one of the two Witorsch brothers)
- Guenter Oberdoerster -- $748 -- (a minor member)
- Un-named researcher -- $300
- Admin/Expenses -- $ 2,072
In addition, there is a bill for the coordination of the IAPAG witness group
And another bill for CEHHT data analysis, prepartion of scientific papers, and for participation in scientific meetings.- Sorell Schwartz @ $175/hr -- $2,625
- Nancy Balter @ $175/hr -- $1,750
- Admin/Expenses -- $1,219
[13]- Sorell Schwartz -- $1,750
- Nancy Balter -- $1,400
- Research Associate -- $150
- Admin/Expenses -- $975
[The total charge for this one bill was $21,213 with Nancy Balter and Sorell Schwartz picking up the majority. It was a nice little earners, and it turned these two Georgetown University academics into virtually full-time servants of the tobacco industry lobby.]
1988 Aug 23 Ray Thornton, (Scientific Affairs at BAT) is circulating to BAT executives a summary of details on the Philip Morris Programme on ETS -- compiled from various sources BAT was being asked to join forces with PM and RJR in running this Pan-European ETS program (Whitecoats).
The document provides a good summary of the early organisation of PM's Whitecoats project. It reveals that the project is:- Divided geographically into two parts. Helmut Gaisch of FTR and John Rupp of Covington & Burling had responsibility for Europe and the Middle East. Don Hoel of Shook Hardy & Bacon was to provide coverage for the "rest of the world" [Which, at this stage, was mainly USA, Canada, Australia, Latin America].
- PM's budget for the European/Middle Eastern activities in 1988 was £2.3 million. This involved " the recruitement of teams of scientists under the cryptic name ARIA " by Francis JC Roe and George B Leslie. The team also included [[Frank Lanau, [[Peter Lee, John Faccini, Alan Armitage, Leonard Levy , and Petr Skrabenek . Drs Jeffrey R Idle and Susan Wonnacott [who both worked for BAT/TAC] were approached to join, but declined.
- The first formal conference of the ARIA team was at "The Bell" (a hotel with conference rooms), Aston Clinton, Aylesbury [30 miles NW of London] on Sep 12th-13th 1988
- Thornton also lists the ARIA group's involvement in the "Perry Conference" [aka "Imperial College London ETS Conference"]
ACTIVITIES:
- Members of Teams are asked to comment on Smoking Issues paper and then to write comments [and] articles as appropriate. and to be generally proactive on the issues.
- Establishment of a Centre for Environmental Toxicology in the US (Sorell Schwartz and Nancy Balter the leading figures)
- Collaboration between Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds
- Plans for two conferences: one in Argentina, the other in Central America. <br<
Thornton is scathing about the British scientists and science recruiters involved. He blames lawyer John Rupp for problems "because of his brash behaviour, exacerbated by minor problems such as the role of Dr Francis Roe, but particularly his minor acolytes, Dr George Leslie and Dr Frank Lunar, who would not be seen in the first rank of scientists qualified to comment on ETS. (Nor would Dr AK Armitage who made his name as a Pharmacologist in the 1960's/1970's a Harrogate, working for the UK TRC as it was then." [Now TAC]
There is also the synopsis of a proposed book (AK Armitage, ed.) by many of these Whitecoats (plus a few probably unsuspecting genuine scientists) trying to raise other scare-substances like asbestos to the same level as smoking. [14]
1988 Aug 29 Indoor Air Pollution Control Association -- Witorsch, Balter, Schwartz, etc which is itself a "subgroup of the Center for Environemental Health and Human Toxicology (CEHHT) 2501053031
1989 Feb 21 Lawyer John Rupp of Covington & Burling is billing the Tobacco Institute for laundered payments for the ETS Consultants Project:
- Sorell Schwartz
13 hours at $200 ph -- $2,600 -- attendance at the Society for Risk Analysis meeting - Philip Witorsch
12 hours at $200 ph -- $2,400 - literature review
26 hours at $200 ph -- $5,200 (assistance to Kay Thomas, Larry Holcomb)
4.5 hrs at $200 ph -- $900 (review/revise Meridian report critique)
14 hours at $200 ph -- $2,800 (database update) - Kitt Booher (Research Associate)
15 hours at $75 per hour -- $1,125 - Miscellaneous expenses c. $2,000 -- checks payable through Georgtown University Medical School's Center for Health and Human Toxicology Inc.(CEHHT)
1990 The ETSLIT (ETS literature) database was established 1990 in Georgetown Uni, Pharmacology Dept - See 2025528778C/8781
- suggests that it was part of Georgetown Uni This group acted as peer reviewers for project proposals at Georgetown 2063610100
1990 Jan "Projected Activities 1990" by David Weeks and Jim Kilpatrick at Per-Med Corp.- They are expanding the database to include literature on ETS. This will be available to the other (IAPAG) scientist via the Center for Environmental Health and HumanToxicology (CEHHT)
- Lifestyles and Appetites Questionnaire
Peter N Lee's work with validating smoking habits through an L & A Questionnaire will be merged with the existing Per-Med question set {David A Weeks of IAPAG]. This will expand the usefulness of our self-administered question set in the history portion of the Multiphasic Screen that we used in Salt Lake in the early 1970's.
- Jim Kilpatrick will head the research to validate the question sets through our office in Richmond. We hope to standardize the question set, and believe that with Jim's expertise, it will avoid many of the misclassification problems that have occurred in the literature.
- Patient Encounters
The Patient Encounter dataset will continue to be expanded in its new form as part of the Per-Med Medical Office Management System.
With ten years experience in the use of Family Practice encounters for epidemiologic research at the Medical College of Virginia (MCV), Jim Kilpatrick will provide the direction for identifying problem employee groups that can have their history expanded for inclusion in the respiratory disease datasets. The expansion will come from group insurance reporting and direct interviews. [16]
1990 Sep 30 Helmut Gaisch's Monthly Highlights report (FTR)
[John] WAHREN , Karolinska, Stockholm - Metabolic pathways of nicotine
OBJECTIVE: To retrieve more intimate knowledge on the fate of nicotine, administered by different pathways, on the human body.
STATUS: The collection of baseline data is being continued. The nicotine metabolite concentrations in the blood and urine samples are now being analysed so that the results can be used in computer modelling (see SCHWARTZ/BALTER).
[Sorell Schwartz and Nancy Balter of Georgetown University, who also ran the IAPAG cohort of tobacco scientists in the USA.]
Also in same document:
SCHWARTZ/BALTER , Georgetown University - Pharmacokinetic modelling
OBJECTIVE: To refine a pharmacokinetic computer model for nicotine metabolism, and use it to determine the original nicotine dose from metabolite concentrations.
STATUS: Additional physiological mechanisms, nicotine binding to the lung tissue and an enteric shunt, are being incorporated into the pharmacokinetic model in order to explain the disparity between predicted and detected peak nicotine concentration values . [17]
1991 Philip Morris are restructing their Science & Technology operations in Europe and the USA, to come under the lawyers Steve Parrish and Chuck Wall . They are also trying to cut costs by terminating the services of Weinberger (WashTech) and the CEHHT (GeorgeTown University) [for Europe only] and dropping some research grant projects. Mary Pottorff has been sent out from PMI Corporate Affairs in New York to make recommendations.
Listed primary smoking grants:
JP Tassin $57,500, G Michelette $49,300, R Molimard $57,500, J Caboche $12,300, D Dusser $49,300, M Symann $32,400, I Vincze $25,800, B Schneider $63,800, Lee/Gardiner $19,600, P Lee $59,000, K Syrjaenen $85,000, B Hirt $58,000, R Weil/H Turner $3,225 (conference).
Listed for ETS grants:
D Weetman $15,850, C Burstein $41,000, O Nilsen $191,500, J Lenges $64,500, S Schwartz $83,173, J Wahren $25,800, J Gorrod $86,800.
[Comments on proposed cuts to above:]
- Weetman' s project should be paid from C&B [Covington & Burling]. He is a critical leader in the C&B consultant program and IAI [Association for Air International -- their new fake scientific organisation later called IAIAQ] should not be compromised by being paid from S&T. [... meaning, through a tobacco company division rather than via lawyers]
- Nilsen , was originally a C&B consultant. Perhaps he, too, should be paid through C&B, though a careful assessment of continuation should be made. [Nilsen was part of the EGIL WhiteCoats group in Scandinavia]
- Schwartz, Wahren and Gorrod have received collectively $526,559 for this pharmacokinetic modelling project and an additional 1991 commitment of
$106,690 for consulting fees. It seems like a lot of money to what end ?
- Lenges . While I can understand wanting to keep the laboratory (CERIA), invoived; I do not think that we should try to make it an IAQ resource. [ie. Doing indoor air quality testing] Too long start up with questionable pay off, With HBI activities so successful in Belgium this may be redundant. [Gray Robertson's HBI operation was already doing faked IAQ work successfully in Europe]
The current Contracts list was for a million dollars worth of measuring device developments for testing air pollution in cars, aircrafts, etc. Philip Morris wasn't getting value for money. A few contracts, however; stand out.
- [Georg] Neurath [labs]. Having already spent close to $1,000,000 since 1987 on this "room" and various tests conducted in the room, do we know what is the purpose of the final product?
- Fresenius [labs]: 3 of 4 contracts awarded to Fresenius have been unable to go forward because of lack of access to equipment, shortage of trained staff, or technical difficulties. These three totalling $83,700 should be cancelled.
- TNO [Dutch lab]: The 10 month project to develop and publish a book on IAQ. I recommend funding of the $141,700 until reviewed early next year.
- [Prof Roger] Perry: [Imperial College air study] This is a never ending, seemingly loosely managed program that has not fulfilled its early expectations. Because Perry is so valuable in other areas ...[He was their main WhiteCoat recruiter in Europe and Asia, and advised the UK Houses of Parliament on air pollution] ... and this sprawling project [Air testing all over the UK] seems to continue to give him credibility, we should continue funding, but with more narrowly defined, intermediate endpoints.
His Recommendations:
- [The problem with a 'need to know only' policy with scientists between the companies, and within divisions of companies, is that clever scientists could exploit this and get funding from multiple sources for essentially the same work.]
- I could not tell which consultants listed on the material Heimut [Gaisch] gave us include ones paid by SH&B, or what they are used for by S&T. [18]
1991 Apr 22 Leo Dreyer, of Shook Hardy & Bacon has provided an overview of the CEHHT's history which reveals that the basic operating cost of running the center were $4,000 a month billed to the Tobacco Institute. In addition, [Company] usage requests were billed to the user (mainly Philip Morris), while any usage by the Tobacco Institute or Covington & Burling were billed to the Tobacco Institute.
- Dr. [Philip] Witorsch manages the billing and other financial aspects of the Center's operations.
- James Goold [Lawyer with RJ Reynolds] states that the concept of the Center for Environmental Health goes back to the mid-1980s. He maintains that the original proposal or authorization regarding the Center for Environmental Health involvement may have been presented either to the Committee of Counsel or to the Executive Committee.
- Dr. Balter indicates that the original database may have been subcontracted to Myron Weinberg before being returned to the Center.
- William Davis reports that in the mid-1980s or later, a funding proposal was presented to the ETS Advisory Group (which eventually became CIAR) to fund the Center for Environmental Health database.
- Dr. Tom Osdene (Philip Morris) apparently visited the Center and vetoed the idea of funding, on the basis that the system was essentially an index system and did not contain abstracts or analyses of articles, and would not otherwise further the work of the CIAR.
- The CEHHT database at this time had approximately 6,000 items -- mainly articles, plus public comments submitted to the EPA (risk assessment). It has some keyword indexing, and work is ongoing at indexing the pre-1990 material.
- In addition, each article receives an "importance' code from Nancy Balter, with DB1 signifying that it is at the most important level for ETS. The database is primarily used by the tobacco companies for their own research ... not for assisting trial counsel.
- The CEHHT (part-time) research staff visit the National Library of Medicine monthly and retrieve approximately 120 articles per month. Some of the material is deposition transcripts and other materials dealing with the EPA's James Repace. These hard copies are transfered to disk and distributed to the cigarette companies, their lawyers, the IAPAG consultants, and John Rupp at C&B. [19] [20]
[This document was originally designated "Priveleged"]
1991 Apr 22 Shook Hardy & Bacon, the tobacco industry's most corrupt lawyers, have prepared a "Status Report" on the CEHHT. [21]
1991 Sep recommendation in Philip Morris files to cancelation of payment for INTERNATIONAL database access. Cancel further PM international support of the Georgetown information program, CEHHT. (This also has been done. Fees paid as of August, $85,080). [22]
1992 Jan 16 The Washington lawfirm Covington & Burling is accounting to FTR (Swiss Philip Morris) for Payments to Consultants in 1991. Total payments of $3,574,695 were made to about 34 European consultants , and through laundary-service organisations to a dozen or so more. This account lists payments made this year to: CEHHT for a total of $132,206. [23] [For the help of Nancy Balter and Sorell Schwartz in European recruitment of Whitecoats.]
1993 Mar Note that John Rupp, a Lawyer with C&B, is able to offer these new recruits access to the Georgetown database C&B whitecoats/consultants recruitment in Latin America Meeting in Miami, 300515140_5148.pdf
1993 Dec Handnotes of some meeting involving Mayada Logue (Philip Morris disinformation executive). Many subjects are discussed (45 pages) ie. a disputed Vienna workshop in 1983 which found problems with disputed causal relationship with passive smoking.
- 4. Georgetown Database
"Loreen (McAlpin) visit yesterday - Tony excited about database - different strategies to be proposed
Tonys mainobsevation is - anything on ETS published probably could be justified entirely in savings from other sources.
Possibility of funding - all of ETS literature.
Decision by an April meeting - need rapid renewal of full-funding - by June - later than that will be difficult to settle.<br<Thoughts on funding to May for management
[24]
1994 June 30 13 page sample of the records they were keeping on the ETS Literature. It comes from the office of Loreen L McAlpin [25]
1994 Jan 24 Lattanzio to Carchman -- PM were considering cutting their support. Andrade was enthusiastic (as was Loreen McAlpin) - see Ruth Dempster's notes.
"Being located in Washington, DC, the Center for Environmental Health and Human Toxicology has a number of local library resource . They include the following: Dahlgren Medical Library at Georgetown University; the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library at George Washington University; the National Library of Medicine; the National Institutes of Health Library; the EPA; Office of' Toxic Substances Library and the Food and Drug Administration Library. NOTE: With these resources, the CEHHT retrieves copies of cuirrent literature as it becomes available. Our library, no longer subscribes to journals and therefore, Philip Morris does not have this invaluable resource. When alerted, the CEHHT may also receive a pre-publication copy of a key article which then provides Philip Morris an expedient way to receive the article and to prepare an appropriate and timely response when needed. Otherwise, Philip Morris has to wait for journal to be received by a library before a copy can be seen.
1995 Mar 1 Donna Rudder, a Project Assistant at the CEHHT, is writing to lawyer John Rupp at Covington & Burling about the ETS Literature Database. She is sending articles. She also ccs.
- Jim Goold [C&B/RJ Reynolds Asian Whitecoats recruiter]
- Jenny Green [C&B whitecoat organiser in Europe/Asia]
- Larry Holcomb [contract IAQ manipulator]
- Walter Woodson [Tobacco Institute organizer]
- Philip Witorsch [IAPAG/CEHHT key member] [27]
1999 Sep British-American Tobacco budget quarterly forecast document. It lists in English pounds:
- Payment of £30,707.20 to CEHHT for Philip Witorsch (US$ 49,500) [28]
