Day 035 - 12 Oct 94 - Page 34
1 habits and industrial procedures, so long as we are
2 careful to distinguish between those recommendations that
3 are based on established knowledge and those that are our
4 best guesses and subject to revision."
5
6 Dr. Barnard, those are, are they not, very guarded and
7 measured words by Sir Richard Doll? He absolutely
8 refuses, does he not, to draw a conclusion of causality
9 from the evidence which he is considering?
10 A. From such evidence that he has brought to bear in that
11 paragraph, yes.
12
13 Q. Must we, as ignorant laymen in this court, give weight to
14 what Sir Richard Doll was saying in 1988 if we want to
15 know what was the proper scientific opinion at that time?
16 A. Dr. Doll's opinion is certainly very important and is
17 -- would be well respected. May I take a minute and read
18 this and see if I have any further comment that would be
19 helpful to you?
20
21 Q. Yes, of course. Always say that you want further time
22 before I go on to something else.
23 A. Again, it is perhaps worth pointing out that Dr. Doll,
24 like virtually all other authorities, and everyone has a
25 different estimation of the weight of the evidence, I have
26 my own estimation as well, but I think where virtually all
27 authorities would agree, as he has observed in this
28 paragraph, is that there are links between dietary factors
29 and cancer. In addition, these links are of a causal
30 nature.
31
32 By causal nature, I am not suggesting that diet causes
33 cancer, but that there is -- links exist and the links are
34 of a causal nature meaning, or, at least, that there is
35 very substantial evidence of that, but that additional
36 investigation is under way.
37
38 Q. Can we agree, perhaps, and maybe by that route save a huge
39 amount of time, Dr. Barnard, I do not know, in the sense
40 that (and this is an example) diet may play a role in
41 creating people who are obese, it probably does play a
42 role in the creation of obesity. It may be accepted that
43 it, therefore, contributes by that route to the incidence
44 of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, might it?
45 A. Yes.
46
47 Q. Do you go any further than that in relation to diet and
48 cancer?
49 A. There are many other mechanisms aside from the one
50 that you have just mentioned that would link diet with
51 cancer.
52
53 Q. There are many other mechanisms that would link obesity
54 with diabetes, are there not?
55 A. There are other mechanisms, yes.
56
57 Q. Yes. So you do not assert that it is possible to say,
58 even on our present state of knowledge in 1994, that a
59 diet high-in-fat and low-in-fibre causes cancer of the
60 colon and breast in human beings; is that right?
