Day 023 - 13 Sep 94 - Page 21
1 it.
2
3 Q. No. What we are talking about is whether it is reasonable
4 to say or why -- when we brought this up yesterday we
5 talked about what you meant by "general acceptance"?
6 A. Yes.
7
8 Q. You said, I believe, he was saying it was suggested, and
9 Mr. Justice Bell said: "Well, he is putting his cards on
10 the table and saying it is generally accepted". We have
11 heard your position. Your position is that the field is
12 open, it is murky, it is whatever. Would you say the
13 position in 1990 it was generally accepted?
14 A. I would think there has been -----
15
16 Q. Generally?
17 A. I think I would not actually put it quite as strongly
18 as that, but it was generally believed that diet was
19 likely to play a part in the development of some of these
20 cancers.
21
22 Q. Presumably, when the World Health Organisation says:
23 "Dietary factors are now known to influence development",
24 they do not mean that the majority people in the world
25 know it, they mean medical and scientific bodies?
26 A. Well, I actually do not know what they mean by that
27 particular statement.
28
29 Q. What I mean is when Vernon Wheelock says "generally
30 accepted" and when the World Health Organisation says
31 "dietary factors are now known", they presumably mean
32 within the respective field -----
33
34 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I have been sitting patiently. I now
35 make formal objection to this cross-examination because
36 once again it is based on a selective reading of a
37 document which has just been given to the witness. I have
38 had a chance now while this has been going on to look at
39 what the World Health Organisation actually thought was
40 the relationship between cancer and diet, and you find it
41 on page 62 onwards.
42
43 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, no doubt you will deal with that in
44 re-examination.
45
46 MR. RAMPTON: I could do but it is such a waste of time.
47
48 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If you want to refer me to the World Health
49 Organisation publication which in a sense stands in its
50 own right as to what any state of general belief was in
51 1989 or 1990, you can do that. When you call witnesses or
52 a witness on this, you can refer them to the World Health
53 Organisation publication and ask them whether you think
54 that reflects a general view in the profession or among
55 ordinary people or any way you want.
56
57 I do not propose to stop you because it is difficult for
58 me, especially when you are acting in person, to know
59 whether you have something in mind which I have not
60 twigged, if I can put it that way.
