Day 035 - 12 Oct 94 - Page 21
1 Dr. Barnard, I would like you to look at is table 4.1
2 which, I believe, is the table you have just drawn our
3 attention to in support of what you have been telling us?
4 A. Yes, that is right.
5
6 Q. We will have a careful look at it, if we may. Table 4.1:
7 "Proportions of Cancer Deaths Attributed to Various
8 Factors". There is a list of the factors, in which diet
9 is the third down. It says, these are cancer deaths:
10 "Best estimate 35 per cent; Range of Acceptable Estimates
11 10 to 70 per cent".
12 A. Yes.
13
14 Q. Please look at the footnote (a), it says this: "It should
15 be understood that these figures are speculative, and
16 there is considerable uncertainty associated with them".
17 You will notice that the source for these figures is the
18 seminal, the classic report of Sir Richard Doll and
19 Richard Peto of Oxford University 1981?
20 A. Yes, that is correct.
21
22 Q. What do you understand, Dr. Barnard, by the word
23 "speculative"?
24 A. It is very difficult to say if 10 per cent of cancer
25 deaths are due to diet or 20 per cent or 30. I think most
26 researchers would narrow the range, although the Surgeon
27 General is saying that acceptable estimates go between 10
28 and 70, most people would narrow that range somewhat.
29 Also because there is an interaction between factors,
30 dietary factors interact with other factors here on the
31 chart, such as tobacco and alcohol, causing the borders to
32 be fuzzy even if they were exactly known.
33
34 Q. On Monday when you were giving your evidence you told the
35 court, you were discussing with his Lordship about, as it
36 were, risk factors and the causation of cancer or the
37 incidence of cancer. You had made a comparison then, as
38 you did, I think, a moment or two ago, between the
39 evidence in relation to tobacco smoking and lung cancer
40 and the evidence in relation to diet and other kinds of
41 cancers, such as colon and breast cancer. Do you remember
42 that? Would you like to have a copy of the transcript?
43 It may be best if you do. My Lord, it is page 47 of
44 Monday's transcript.
45
46 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I will just follow because I, on purpose,
47 kept all the transcripts in my room.
48
49 THE WITNESS: I had one additional comment on this chart. We
50 are not coming back to it?
51
52 MR. RAMPTON: If there is anything you want to add, if
53 you think I have moved on too quickly, please do so.
54
55 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Go back to the table 4.1.
56 A. Just briefly, two points. Some cancer deaths are
57 attributable to more than one factor on the chart. These
58 factors are not exclusive. For example, tobacco is
59 strongly linked to lung cancer. However, that same cancer
60 death which may be attributable to tobacco also may have
