Day 022 - 12 Sep 94 - Page 54
1 A. I have to take the responsible position of looking
2 dispassionately at all the evidence, both for and against,
3 fat being implicated in the causation of cancer.
4
5 Q. You are a scientist, so you have to be -----
6 A. But I have to advise patients and, you know, one has
7 to be very clear about making sure that you are actually
8 advising people about doing the right thing. My argument
9 is that, at the moment, there may be some suggestive
10 evidence one way or the another, but we have not the
11 scientific evidence to show that there is a definite
12 relationship between fat intake and breast cancer or bowel
13 cancer.
14
15 Q. You could say "X caused Y".
16 A. Yes, like cigarette smoking -- you see, with cigarette
17 smoking the studies have consistently shown this
18 relationship. You very rarely get lung cancer of certain
19 types which we know to be related to cigarette smoking in
20 people who are non-smokers.
21
22 Q. A good example could be -- if I just refer quickly to
23 another report; we will just go through a few reports. It
24 is No. 60 in the Defendants' Nutrition file.
25
26 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Bundle III.
27
28 MR. MORRIS: Bundle III, blue. You can keep that other file on
29 the table. We will probably come back to it. I have not
30 got this in any particularly sensible order.
31 A. It is file No. 3.
32
33 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No. 3, yes. If Mr. Morris gives you the
34 Defendants' document number, you will see on the spine it
35 has which documents are covered. He wants No. 60.
36
37 MR. MORRIS: It is No. 60.
38 A. Is that "Childhood and Recent Eating Patterns"?
39
40 MR. MORRIS: Yes. "Childhood and Recent Eating Patterns and
41 Risk of Breast Cancer", Hislop and Others, 1986. They did
42 a case control study of 846 cases and 862 controls
43 returning questionnaires.
44
45 MR. JUSTICE BELL: This is 1986?
46
47 MR. MORRIS: 1986. The introduction starts off: "There is
48 increasing evidence that diet is an important cause of
49 breast cancer". They use the word "cause" there. Is
50 Hislop a well-respected epidemiologist?
51 A. He is not somebody that I know, I am afraid.
52
53 Q. If you turn over the next page, the last page before the
54 references of that, their conclusion -- it is internal
55 page 56 -- is: "We conclude that diet is associated with
56 breast cancer, especially in premenopausal women. Food
57 with high fat content increases the risk of breast
58 cancer." They are making quite clear links there, are
59 they not?
60 A. They are, but my criticism is if you look at the
