Day 254 - 22 May 96 - Page 42


     
     1   MR. JUSTICE BELL: -- highly respected and they use their words
     2        advisedly.
     3
     4   MR. MORRIS:  The reason that the Plaintiffs have been allowed to
     5        bring him here is because he is saying that consensus has
     6        shifted, or opinion has shifted, his personal views are
     7        actually, we would argue, irrelevant in terms of whether he
     8        believes, you know, diet is linked to cancer or not.  I
     9        mean, accepting as much as he makes submissions in our
    10        favour, he is being brought back here to say the words he
    11        uses in his statement, you know, general, shifting opinion.
    12
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I do not need you what to tell me what is in
    14        his statement, I have read that.
    15
    16   MR. MORRIS:  We are entitled to test it to see that if the ----
    17
    18   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What is the date of the report you are
    19        looking at?
    20
    21   MR. MORRIS:  18.9.90.
    22
    23   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  He was asked about that last time.  I have
    24        read through my notes, I have looked at bits of the
    25        transcript and he was tested on the WHO 1990 report in
    26        1994.
    27
    28   MR. MORRIS:  I was just clarifying that they would be careful in
    29        the terminology they used, and if they use certain words
    30        then that would be indicative of certain things in Dr.
    31        Arnott's view.  That is all.
    32
    33   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  He gave far more detailed evidence on what he
    34        thought of the WHO report in 1994.
    35
    36   MS. STEEL:   Would you agree that mortality from coronary heart
    37        disease and breast and colon cancers are by and large high
    38        in the same countries and low in the same countries?
    39        A.  By and large yes, that is true.
    40
    41   Q.   Cancer cells -- sorry, in cancer it is generally the
    42        spreading of the tumour that would lead to death is it not?
    43        A.  Not always, but certainly the most serious aspect of
    44        the property of cancers is that it can spread to vital
    45        organs and cause death in this way.
    46
    47   Q.   You do not know anything about whether cells are made more
    48        sticky if the diet is high in saturated fat, do you; is
    49        that what you have said?
    50        A.  I am afraid you are talking about platelets, 
    51        stickiness. 
    52 
    53   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  What did you mean by cells?
    54
    55   MS. STEEL:   What about cells in general, do you know anything
    56        about that?
    57        A.  Well, that is actually a very difficult question
    58        because it depends as to whether any increased stickiness
    59        has any importance in terms of the well-being of the
    60        patients.  For example, we need cells which form our

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