Scientist Invokes 5th Amendment 100 Times

The former research director of Philip Morris, the nation’s largest cigarette maker, invoked the 5th Amendment privilege against self-incrimination more than 100 times in videotaped testimony played for a Minnesota jury on Tuesday.

Thomas S. Osdene refused to answer questions on a host of topics that go to the heart of Minnesota’s massive case against the tobacco industry--among them secret company research on nicotine addiction and nicotine manipulation, the industry’s failure to disclose knowledge it had about the health hazards of smoking and other sensitive topics, including internal Philip Morris memos suggesting that sensitive documents be sent overseas or destroyed to keep them out of the hands of regulators or lawyers suing the industry.

For example, Osdene invoked the 5th Amendment when asked about a January 1969 memo he received from Helmut Wakeham, then-Philip Morris research director, saying that the company had done an internal study of smoking and pregnancy which showed that “smoking mothers produce smaller babies.”

The memo added: “the position of the medical people is that smaller babies suffered detrimental effects all through life.”

Osdene also refused to answer when Minnesota asked about the fact that in 1969 Philip Morris had failed to “disclose to the smoking public that smoking mothers produce smaller babies.”

It was not until 15 years later when the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act was amended to require that one of four warning labels appear in a specific format on cigarette packages and in most related advertising. Among them was one that declared: SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Smoking By Pregnant Women May Result in Fetal Injury, Premature Birth, and Low Birth Weight.

The full videotape of Osdene’s deposition was played for the jury in the massive case filed against the $50-billion-a-year industry by the state of Minnesota and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Minnesota, which are seeking $1.77 billion in damages from the industry to compensate the plaintiffs for expenses incurred treating sick smokers.

Osdene, who has a doctorate in biochemistry, worked for Philip Morris from 1965 to 1993. As director of research and later as vice president for science and technology, he was in a position to know about key aspects of company research on a host of sensitive matters.

A small segment of the videotape, where Osdene declined to answer 11 questions, was played Friday. But on Tuesday, the St. Paul, Minn., jury heard about a host of new subjects.

They were informed on the videotaped deposition that Osdene, 70, had sought immunity from prosecution from the Justice Department. But the Justice Department declined to give him such protection in return for testimony to a grand jury that is investigating possible criminal charges against the industry, according to a transcript of the proceedings.

Osdene’s lawyer, John Nields of Washington, D.C., said during the deposition, which took place on June 15-16 of last year, that he had expected the Justice Department to give his client immunity, but the agency declined.

Nields also said that Osdene was one of the individuals the Justice Department probe was focusing on, in explaining to Ramsey County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fitzpatrick why Osdene was continually invoking his constitutional right against self-incrimination.

Reached at his home in Richmond, Va., Osdene declined comment. Nields declined to return a call seeking comment.

Minnesota Atty. Gen. Hubert H. Humphrey III said Osdene’s repeated invocation of the 5th Amendment was “a powerful reminder that these companies have had much to hide from the American public. . . . Why is it that the top tobacco research scientist invokes the 5th Amendment when asked about destruction of tobacco company secrets?”

The tape was played over vociferous objections of industry lawyers, particularly attorneys for the other cigarette companies who contended that it would inflame the jury against them. Those objections were rejected by Judge Fitzpatrick.