Expert Supports Data on Smoking In 'Open Letter'

Dr. David D. Rutstein '30, professor of Preventive Medicine, has challenged the research committee to help set up an experiment to answer the question:

"Will a decrease in cigarette smoking result in a concomitant decrease in the death rate from lung cancer?"

Writing in the October issue of the Atlantic, Dr. Rutstein defends the validity of evidence linking cigarette smoking and lung cancer. The article is in the form of an "open letter" to Dr. Clarence C. Little '10, chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Tobacco Industry Research Committee.

Citing 18 studies in five countries, Dr. Rutstein claimed that these show "either that patients with lung cancer are predominantly cigarette smokers, or that cigarette smokers have more lung cancer than do non-smokers." He said that he considered the evidence to be stronger than the evidence of Dr. Edward Jenner in 1796 when he recommended vaccination against smallpox.

Although he said that he was not recommending that people be forbidden to smoke cigarettes, he suggested that the tobacco industry committee "take a cue from the experience of the liquor industry after Prohibition and at least counsel moderation in smoking."

Dr. Little said that he was preparing a response to Dr. Rutstein, to be published in December's Atlantic. "I still need more evidence before I can be convinced," he stated.