1969 Reynolds Memo Urges Removing Files
Jurors in Minnesota’s landmark suit against the tobacco industry Tuesday got their first glimpse of one of the 39,000 hotly contested company documents unsealed by the Supreme Court on April 6. The 1969 R.J. Reynolds memorandum discusses removing or declaring “invalidated” scientific research findings about tobacco that could prove damaging to the company in court.
The brief document, written by RJR scientist Murray Senkus to Max Crohn of the company’s legal department, states, “We do not foresee any difficulty in the event a decision is reached to remove certain reports from research files. Once it becomes clear that such action is necessary for the successful defense of our present and future suits, we will promptly remove all such reports from our files.”
The memorandum does not detail exactly what kinds of reports were being considered for removal.
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