Testimony by Chemist Hurts Tobacco’s Case

A former Philip Morris scientist testified under oath Thursday that he was ordered to shred the only copy of test reports that showed very high concentrations of a known carcinogen in tobacco smoke.

William Raymond Morgan, an analytical chemist who worked for Philip Morris for 20 years, also testified that Philip Morris researchers normally used only “nonproduction” cigarettes in tests for carcinogens. He said that the cigarettes used in the tests contained fewer chemical additives than the cigarettes actually sold to consumers.

Morgan, 53, made these statements in a deposition in Richmond, Va., taken as part of the pretrial process in Texas’ case seeking to recover $4 billion in damages from the tobacco industry for costs incurred treating indigent smokers.

Ronald L. Motley, the Charleston, S.C., attorney who took Morgan’s deposition, said it was the first time that a former tobacco industry employee had testified under oath that documents had been destroyed.

“This is devastating evidence against the tobacco industry, especially in regard to their racketeering activities,” Texas Atty. Gen. Dan Morales said in a formal statement issued after he was informed about the deposition.

“Week after week there are revelations of new unconscionable and illegal activities by the tobacco industry,” Morales said. “The evidence against them is overwhelming. The more the industry fights, the more it becomes entangled in its own web.”

Philip Morris attorney Michael York said the company would be able to refute Morgan’s statements if Texas attempted to introduce them at trial.

Morgan testified that the shredding stemmed from an incident in 1984 when he used a real cigarette, actually sold in the store, during a test on secondhand smoke. It turned out that the cigarette contained 10 times the amount of nitrosamines than in any test he had previously run on the nonproduction cigarettes.

When asked what kind of cigarette that was, Morgan responded: “It was a production Virginia Slims.” Then, attorney Ronald L. Motley asked Morgan, “In other words, a Virginia Slims that you could buy at a cigarette store?” Morgan said, “yes,” according to a transcript of the deposition provided to The Times.

Morgan testified that his supervisor, Robin Kinser, then informed Cathy Ellis, a higher-ranking Philip Morris scientist, of the test results. Soon thereafter, Morgan said, “she [Kinser] came back to me and told me that I was to destroy all the data” about the test of the Virginia Slims with the 10 times higher level of nitrosamines.

Morgan said that he complied with Kinser’s instruction. When asked how he destroyed the document, Morgan responded, “I shredded it” on the sixth floor of the Philip Morris tower in Richmond where he worked.

Morgan said this “was the only copy” of the study and that he knew that “because I recorded the data and I knew that was it. I had the only copy.”

Any Philip Morris research reports on nitrosamines were restricted “to a select group of need-to-know individuals in management and other people working within the area at Philip Morris,” Morgan testified.

He said the company transferred the nitrosamines research to Switzerland in 1992. Nitrosamines are a cancer-causing chemical found in beer, bacon and tobacco smoke.

At another point during the deposition, Morgan testified that he was trained by his superiors to never refer to the health effects of the subject matter he was studying and to never put these findings in writing.

Morales said he would inform the Justice Department of Morgan’s statements and would also bring them to the attention of the judge who is presiding over the state’s case in federal court in Texarkana, Texas. The case is scheduled to go to trial in September, one of 23 filed by state officials around the country against the $50-billion-a-year industry.

Philip Morris lawyer York said that if the state of Texas attempted to introduce this testimony at trial, the company was prepared to rebut it. “If this testimony is repeated at trial, we believe the evidence will show that Dr. Morgan is mistaken, and there will be compelling testimony that he was never instructed to get rid of any data.”

York added, “We also think the evidence will show that the specific testing of sidestream smoke that he refers to in his testimony was done by company scientists in Europe and those tests were retained and produced to the plaintiffs in Minnesota,” who are also suing Philip Morris and the other major tobacco manufacturers. “Those tests are available to Mr. Morales’ lawyers, including the lawyer who took Morgan’s deposition, and they know that,” York said.