Day 030 - 03 Oct 94 - Page 73
1 A. Again explain what I understand the status of this
2 recommendation as being. After "Avoid being overweight",
3 it then goes on to say: "Cut down on fats" -- this is in
4 the context of cancer, of course -- "spread less butter or
5 margarine; try skimmed or semi-skimmed milk; choose low
6 fat cheeses; cut down on amount of oil and lard; cut down
7 on fatty meats such as sausages and pork pies; cut off fat
8 from meat; try fish" etc. etc. Then: "Do not fry too
9 often; grilling, roasting or stewing is better. Eat
10 plenty of fibre, fruit, beans and peas. Fibre helps the
11 digestion. It also helps prevents constipation" etc. etc.
12 Then it says: "There is, of course, no guarantee that by
13 following this advice you will protect yourself against
14 any form of cancer, but you may reduce the risk of some
15 forms and any case is all good advice for your general
16 health".
17
18 What you see here, effectively, is an intermediate stage.
19 In the UK at that time the advice was, the dietary advice
20 to reduce your risk of cancer was in an intermediate
21 stage. The advice here is what sometimes known as
22 "prudent advice"; that is, in effect, what it is saying
23 is the advice on cardiovascular disease is, effectively,
24 solid; the evidence on cancer is consistent with that on
25 heart disease, and there is no reason to believe that in
26 following that advice you can possibly do yourself any
27 harm, you will only do yourself good; therefore, follow
28 the advice, primarily for heart disease; secondly, perhaps
29 also for cancer.
30
31 That is the gist of the position. That has been the gist
32 of the position in the UK, although, as I said before, not
33 in other European documents, not from WHO, not in the
34 States. I dare say that if the government in this country
35 had taken the position that the government in the US had
36 taken, this part of this trial would not be happening.
37
38 Q. Can we look and see, you mentioned WHO -- I am not sure I
39 know which WHO documents are in here.
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Mr. Rampton, how far are you going to get,
42 do you think, this evening?
43
44 MR. RAMPTON: I have to go through some of this material.
45
46 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think you have. If you had been within a
47 hair's breadth of finishing, we might have sat on.
48 Bearing in mind you clearly have to ask more, is that as
49 good a time as any to break off?
50
51 MR. RAMPTON: Absolutely.
52
53 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think, perhaps, we should talk about what
54 further documentation you need, first of all.
55
56 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I would like to see all the documents in
57 their entirety from which pages or passages have been
58 extracted by Mr. Cannon. It does not necessarily mean
59 that there is anything more in them of relevance than he
60 has extracted. But nevertheless I would like to see them.
