Day 200 - 12 Dec 95 - Page 21
1 mention of one of the epidemiological papers in final
2 submissions, and I might be asked to draw a conclusion from
3 that when that possible conclusion had not been put to
4 Professor Crawford, and I expressed my unease about that.
5 Has that changed?
6
7 MR. RAMPTON: No. If your Lordship is of the view that evidence
8 of the possibility of causal relationship between diet and
9 cancer is still a runner, then it has not changed, no.
10
11 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I mean, it relates at least, does it not, to
12 the question of whether there can be said to be a very real
13 risk that you will suffer cancer of the breast or bowel or
14 heart disease as a result of a diet which is high in fat,
15 sugar, animal products and salt, or whether there is
16 merely, say, a theoretical risk which would not worry any
17 reasonably robust person.
18
19 MR. RAMPTON: It does relate to that. As I say, if that is
20 still a runner at the moment -- whether it still is at the
21 end of the case remains to be seen -- and Professor
22 Crawford has to come back, there is, in fact, further
23 epidemiological documents which has emerged since Professor
24 Crawford gave evidence which is freely available at the
25 Government book shop in Holborn -- I forget the name; it is
26 another of those grey books -- and it contains some
27 material which is directly relevant to the question of how
28 far does epidemiology carry one in this sort of enquiry.
29 If Professor Crawford comes back, I shall certainly
30 cross-examine him about it.
31
32 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What I think you should do is, unless you
33 have some objection in principle to it, to have copied the
34 relevant papers. I do not live in a cocoon. I have
35 already expressed an interest in these matters anyway. If
36 I see something about diet and degenerative disease in a
37 broad sheet newspaper or a magazine, I tend to read it out
38 of ordinary interest.
39
40 I know there have been appearances of a certain
41 retrenchment, so far as that is concerned, but I cannot
42 take that into consideration in this case, unless it is in
43 evidence, which means if there are articles put to a
44 witness because the articles themselves are not evidence.
45
46 MR. RAMPTON: No. I entirely agree with your Lordship, if I may
47 say so. I was not thinking of newspapers articles, but
48 there has emerged certain recent evidence in relation to
49 heart disease which is, to say the least, rather striking.
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I mean, my view at the moment -- I am not
52 beginning to give any kind of formal ruling on it -- is
53 that we have to have Mr. Fairgrieve continue his evidence,
54 unless the Defendants stand up and volunteer and say: "No,
55 we do not want to ask Mr. Fairgrieve any more questions".
56 We have to have Professor Crawford back for
57 cross-examination during which you can put any new
58 articles, having copied them in advance so that everyone
59 has had a chance to read them. The issue in my mind is
60 what, if any, other witnesses need to be recalled beyond
