BACKGROUND NOTE: As we saw in the last document which revealed Philip Morris' plans to
slant the science on secondhand smoke on a global basis, the industry's
tactic was to single out scientists whom they believed could be
persuaded to work with, and for, the tobacco industry. They would then
bring them into the fold and pay them well to criticize the scientific
methods used by others, to dispute findings of studies done on
secondhand tobacco smoke, to concoct contrary op-eds and articles and
appear as 'expert witnesses' for their side against clean indoor air
measures at government hearings, etc. The industry referred to the
scientists thus recruited as white coats. The project to recruit them
was called the Whitecoat Project. Invoices saying what these scientists
were paid make up many documents posted on the 'Net.
The following is a document is a telex, and shows that the rush to
recruit these potential 'whitecoats' was so avid that it was becoming
embarassing, and had to be coordinated, in order to keep from scaring
off potential scientists:
Quotes:
Dear John,
I had a surprise phone call earlier today from Dr. Bieva in Brussels.
He was rather amazed that a certain Dr. Weimberg in Washington should
call, asking him exactly the questions that we had already asked him and
also offering him a contract. It made him uneasy that so much attention
was suddenly focussed upon him from America (we had already introduced
him to Shook Hardy). We really should not be seen falling over each
other when contacting independent scientists.
When I gave you the other day -- in confidence -- our list of
+whitecoats+, it was precisely with the purpose in mind of avoiding
double approaches....May I suggest that we agree as quickly as possible
amongst ourselves on who contacts whom....
Kind regards,
Helmut
Anne Landman
American Lung Association of Colorado, West Region Office
Grand Junction
Title: Organization of contacts with whitecoats
Type of Document: Telex
Author: Helmut Gaisch [PM, Europe]
Recipient: J.P. Rupp [an attorney with Covington and Burling who helped
develop and coordinate the Whitecoat Project]
Date: Nov. 16, 1987
No. of Pages: 1
Site: Philip Morris document site http://www.pmdocs.com/
URL:
http://www.pmdocs.com/getimg.asp?pgno=0&start=0&bool=Whitecoats&docid=2023542534
