Day 035 - 12 Oct 94 - Page 09
1
2 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I had better ask some questions of
3 Dr. Barnard about it now because by the time the
4 transcript is ready he may have gone back to the United
5 States, very likely that he would have done. Dr. Barnard,
6 can I take the first of those two short clips from that
7 programme. I should preface it by asking you this: Do
8 you now accept that is you on that programme?
9 A. Yes, that is me.
10
11 Q. Does that little showing bring the programme back to mind?
12 A. Yes, it does.
13
14 Q. In fact, I think it lasted something over an hour, did it
15 not, in reality?
16 A. Yes, that is right.
17
18 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Your part in it, not the show?
19 A. I do not recall the length.
20
21 MR. RAMPTON: He was one of the three main participants.
22
23 MR. JUSTICE BELL: On the rare occasions I have watched chat
24 shows people tend to float in and out of them. They may
25 be asked to sit on some sofa on one side, but they take no
26 active part in the rest of the show. Was there an hour
27 involving you?
28 A. I regret to say I cannot recall. I think it was three
29 or four years ago.
30
31 MR. RAMPTON: He was at the beginning, so far as we can tell,
32 and, as far as I can tell, he is still there at the end.
33 (To the witness): May I ask you about the first of those
34 clips?
35 A. Yes.
36
37 Q. Did you write down, I am afraid I did not, what you think
38 is the accurate version of what you said from the screen?
39 A. Yes. I believe the words in question were: "Meat
40 eating men, 25 per cent of them become impotent by age
41 60. The reason is", at which point I was cut off in the
42 -- as you could tell, it was very tumultuous between the
43 interactions with the host, the other guests, calls in
44 from the audience coming over the phone piped into the
45 studio and I was not able to continue beyond that point.
46
47 Q. Very well. Taken in its uncontinued or cut off form, it
48 is perhaps, you would agree, rather an excessive
49 statement, is it not?
50 A. It is an accurate statement, and one which is
51 referenced in the scientific literature as surprising and,
52 perhaps, upsetting as it may be.
53
54 Q. Can you tell me what you were going to tell the audience
55 was the reason why it was so?
56 A. If one consults the literature the primary
57 contributor, which would have been described, was
58 atherosclerotic legions in the relevant arteries.
59
60 Q. Which may be attributable to an excessive amount of fat,
