The critics and cheerleaders of Dr. Irving John Selikoff agree that he was a charming, charismatic, and courageous man, a compassionate physician, and a zealous advocate for worker safety and health. The consensus falls apart over the merits of Selikoff’s actual research, his credentials, and his advocacy tactics.[1]
Selikoff’s collaborators, protégés, and fellow travelers tend to brand any challenge or criticism as “scurrilous.”[2] They attack the messenger for attacking the messenger, who attacked the messenger, u.s.w.. Certainly in his lifetime, Selikoff attracted harsh and vituperative attacks, some of which were mean-spirited and even anti-semitic. Although I am not a Jew, I am, following Jonathan Miller, “Jew-ish, just not the whole hog.” As such, I can appreciate the ire of some of Selikoff’s defenders over the nature of these attacks.
Selikoff’s legitimate achievements should not be diminished, and his defenders are correct to bemoan the ad hominem attacks on Selikoff, based upon ethnicity and personal characteristics. Some attacks, however, were merited. The time has come to stop evaluating the message by its messenger, and to pay attention to the evidence. Selikoff’s defenders and hagiographers are wrong, therefore, to claim that Selikoff’s training, scientific acumen, advocacy, and false positive claims are somehow off limits. Selikoff advanced his scientific and political agenda by promoting his reputation and work, and he thus put his credentials, work, and methods into issue. Selikoff’s contributions to public health in publicizing the dangers of high exposure, long-term asbestos exposure do not privilege every position he took. Selikoff is a difficult case because he was wrong on many issues, and his reputation, authority and prestige ultimately became much greater than the evidence would ultimately support.
Although Selikoff died in 1992, his legacy lives on in the perpetual litigation machine that is run by the litigation industry and Selikoff’s juniors and imitators, who serve as testifying expert witnesses. One of Selikoff’s great achievements, the federalization of worker safety and health in the Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970,[3] languishes because of inadequate resources for enforcement and frivolous efforts to address non-existent problems, such as the lowering of the crystalline silica permissible exposure limit. Activists have taken to redress the problem by advocating for nugatory “warnings” from remote suppliers, in the face of employer failures to monitor and supervise workers and the workplace, and to provide administrative, engineering, and personal protective controls.
Selikoff diverted regulatory attention from asbestos fiber type, with the result that the OSHA PELs were lowered for both chrysotile and amphibole asbestos, thus leaving the ultra-hazardous crocidolite asbestos in use. Selikoff perpetuated a good deal of mischief and misinformation to keep his myth that all fiber types are the same (and that “asbestos is asbestos is asbestos”). In doing so, he actually hurt many people.
An anonymous snark on Wikipedia noted some of my blog posts about Selikoff, and offered the lame criticism that my writings were not peer reviewed.[4] The snark (Tweedale?) was of course correct on this limited point, but generally in this field, peer review is worth a warm bucket of spit. And there is the matter that the anonymous critic was offering a criticism that was also not peer reviewed.
Selikoffophiles continue to tell tall tales about Selikoff’s work and in particular about how he became involved in asbestos medicine.[5] So here is a timeline of Selikoff’s life and asbestos work, an update of an earlier version. If anyone notes an error or inconsistency in this time line, please let me know, provide better sources, and ask for a correction. If I am wrong, I will readily note the correction and eat my words, but I am sure they will be quite digestible.[6]
1915-01-15. Irving John Selikoff was born as Irving Selecoff in the brain basket of America, Brooklyn, New York, to Abraham and Matilda (Tillie) Selecoff.[7] His father, Abraham, was born on April 6, 1885, in the Kyiv oblast of what is now Ukraine.[8]
1920. According to the 1920 census, the Selekoff family lived at 816 179th Street, in the Bronx. Irving’s father, Abraham, was self-employed as a hat manufacturer, doing business later as United Headwear Corporation.[9] The family had two children, Irving, and his older sister, Gladys.
1930. The asbestos workers’ journal published a story about the (non-malignant) risks of asbestos exposure.[10]
1935-06. Selikoff was graduated from Columbia University, with a B.S. degree.
1935-12-24. Selikoff arrived in Boston from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, on the S.S. Yarmouth, on December 24, 1935, apparently en route from Scotland.
1936. Dr. Alice Hamilton, physician and noted labor activist, wrote in a labor union journal to urge more attention to industrial dusts, the knowledge of dangers of which was[11] “still very limited except with regard to silica and asbestos.”
1936-08. Selikoff sat for the university entrance boards in Scotland.
1936-09-27. Selikoff married Lydia Kapilian, in the Bronx.[12]
1936-10-12. Irving Selecoff arrives in Liverpool, from New York, aboard the S.S. Samaria.
1936-10. Selikoff entered Anderson’s College of Medicine, in Glasgow, Scotland.[13]
1936-12-28. Irving John Selikoff is listed in the UK, Medical and Dental Students Registers, 1882-1937, registration date December 28, 1936, in Scotland.
1936. Alice Hamilton published an article on the risks and benefits of industrial asbestos use, in a key labor unionist journal. Alice Hamilton, “Industrial Poisons,” 43 The American Federationist 707-13 (1936).
1937-04-26. Selikoff arrived in New York, from Greenock, Scotland, on the S.S. Carinthia.
1937-10-10. Irving Selecoff arrived in Glasgow, Scotland, from New York City, on board the SS. Cameronia.
1938-07-14. Irving J. Selecoff arrived in Quebec, Canada, from Greenock, Scotland, on the S.S. Duchess Atholl.
1939-06-24. Irving Selecoff arrived in New York, from Liverpool, London, on the S.S. Mauretania. Because of the developing hostilities in Europe, Selikoff apparently did not return to Glasgow, in the fall of 1939.
1939-11. Unable to return to Scotland, Selikoff applied to Melbourne University for coursework to finish his non-degree course of qualification for medication practice in the United Kingdom.[14]
1940-03-04. Selecoff (as his name was then often spelled) arrived in Vancouver from Sydney, on the S.S. Aorangi.
1940-04. Irving Selikoff was living with his parents, and his married sister and her family, in Rye, New York, according to the 1940 census, taken on April 10, 1940.
1940-05-27. Selikoff enrolled in the University of Melbourne as a non-degree student, for coursework to finish his qualification for medical license in Scotland.[15]
1941-03-24. John Selecoff arrived in Los Angeles, California, from Sydney, Australia, on the S.S. Mariposa. According to Bartrip, Selikoff had completed his last course at the University of Melbourne, for his “tailor-made” program, on
1941-02-27. Selikoff never gained entrance to a degree program at Melbourne.[16]
1941-04-21. Irving John Selikoff registered for the draft, in Port Chester, New York.
1941. Selikoff joined the Mount Sinai Hospital as an assistant in Anatomy and Pathology, “immediately following his university training.”[17]
1943-11-01. Selikoff received an M.D., degree from Middlesex University,[18] after two semesters in residence. This school was regarded as “substandard” and not approved by the American Medical Association. The school lost its accreditation in 1946, and closed.[19] After receiving this degree, Selikoff continued his efforts to return to Scotland, to complete his “triple qualification” for medical licensure in Scotland, which would allow him to sit for the licensing examination in one of the United States.
1943 – 1944. Selikoff served as an intern, at the Beth Israel Hospital, in Newark, New Jersey.[20]
1944 – 1946. Selikoff served as a resident, at the Sea View Hospital, in New York City.[21]
1945-04-23. Selikoff was listed in the British Medical Registry, based upon his qualification by the Scottish Conjoint Board for his work at Anderson’s and his non-degree work at the University of Melbourne.[22]
1943-06-02. Irving J Selecoff arrived in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from Liverpool, aboard the S.S. Axel Johnson.
1945-06-02. Selikoff arrived in Montreal, Quebec, from Liverpool, England, on the S.S. Axel Johnson.
1945-12-21. Selikoff’s mother, Tillie, died.
1946-02. Selikoff married Celia Schiffrin in Manhattan.[23] It was the second marriage for both bride and groom.
1947. After having left Mt. Sinai Hospital, in 1943, for an internship and a residency, Selikoff resumed his association with Mt. Sinai Hospital.[24]
1947-06-30. Selikoff’s father, Abraham Selecoff, married Anna Susser, in Manhattan.[25]
1949. Selikoff opened a medical office at 707 Broadway, Paterson, New Jersey,[26] not far from a factory run by the Union Asbestos and Rubber Company (UNARCO). In the same year, the Selikoffs were living at 965 Fifth Avenue, near 78th Street, in Manhattan.[27]
1950. Selikoff’s medical practice in Paterson, New Jersey, afforded him the opportunity to observe “the incidence of lung disease among workers at the Union Asbestos and Rubber Company (UNARCO),”[28] which operated one of its factories in Paterson.
1950-04-05. Irving J. Selikoff and his wife Celia resided at 93 Broadway, Paterson, New Jersey, USA, according to the 1950 census. By the early 1950s, Selikoff and his wife had moved to 505 Upper Boulevard, Ridgewood, New Jersey.
1951. New Jersey lawyer Carl Gelman retained Dr. Irving Selikoff to examine 17 workers from the Paterson plant of Union Asbestos and Rubber Company (UNARCO). Gelman filed workers’ compensation claims on behalf of the UNARCO workers.[29]
1952. Supported by Selikoff’s report, UNARCO worker Anton Szczesniak settled his worker’s compensation case, involving “intestinal cancer,” for $2,000 in 1952.[30] Selikoff published data on the carcinogenicity of amosite in 1972,[31] a delay of twenty years.[32]
1952. Selikoff and colleagues published the results of a clinical trial of isoniazid for tuberculosis patients.[33]
1952. Selikoff was featured in Life magazine coverage of isoniazid, a chemotherapy for tuberculosis.[34]
1952. Selikoff was an assistant attending physician for thoracic diseases in the department of thoracic diseases at Mt. Sinai Hospital. In this year, Selikoff delivered the monthly Physiological Chemistry Seminar lecture at Mt. Sinai Hospital on: “Antitubercular Hydrazines,” along with Drs. H. H. Fox and Richard J. Schnitzer, of Hoffman-La Roche.
1954. UNARCO closed its Paterson, New Jersey plant, and moved it to Tyler, Texas.[35]
1955. Selikoff received the Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award for his work on the clinical trial of isoniazid to treat tuberculosis, along with Walsh McDermott and Carl Muschenheim, of the Hoffmann-La Roche Research Laboratories, and Edward H. Robitzek, of the Squibb Institute for Medical Research.[36]
1955. Selikoff’s involvement in the isoniazid clinical trials continued to attract media attention. His first television appearance was panned, but he would later develop considerable public speaking skills.[37]
1955. Sir Richard Doll published his epidemiologic study of lung cancer among British asbestos workers.[38] This study was known to Selikoff, who relied upon it in his litigation reports to support the compensation claims of asbestos workers in the 1950s.[39]
1955. In 1955, American labor unions were well aware of the claim that asbestos causes lung cancer. Herbert K. Abrams, union physician and the Medical Director of Local 25 Chicago, Building Service Employees International Union, concluded that asbestos causes cancer in a prominent union journal.[40]
1956. Selikoff became an associate attending physician for thoracic disease at Mt. Sinai Hospital.
1957. For many years, Frederick Legrand had been a pipecoverer and asbestos worker for asbestos contracting firms. In February 1956, Legrand filed a successful claim for worker’s compensation for disability due to asbestosis.[41] Attorney William L. Brach filed perhaps the first civil action (as opposed to worker’s compensation claim), on behalf of LeGrand, against Johns-Manville, for asbestos-related disease, on July 17, 1957. Frederick LeGrande v. Johns-Manville Prods. Corp., No. 741-57 (D.N.J.).[42] Trial commenced on March 4, 1959, before the Hon. Honorable Reynier J. Wortendyke, Jr. In the middle of trial, Johns-Manville (JM) settled the case for $35,000.[43] According to various accounts, JM badly mishandled the defense by falsely asserting that it had no knowledge of potential asbestosis hazards to end-users such as LeGrand. The defense had the dual liability of both being untrue and depriving JM of affirmative defenses of contributory negligence and assumption of risk. JM was apparently able to obtain a stipulation that LeGrand’s condition was not the result of asbestos in JM’s product, which JM used to hide the JM settlement from subsequent claimants. Frederick Legrand died in the fall of 1959.[44]
1957-07. The asbestos insulators’ union’s periodical, distributed to its members, notes that “[t]he problem of hazardous materials was again discussed with the importance of using preventative measures to eliminate inhalation. It is suggested that, when working under dusty conditions, respirators should be used at all times and gloves whenever conditions warrant.”[45]
1957-10. President Sickles, at the International Convention of the Asbestos Heat, Frost and Insulators Union, reported to his union’s delegates that he, “[b]eing well aware of the health hazards in the Asbestos industry, requested authority for the General Executive Board to make a study of the health hazards … that will enable the Board to adopt any policies that will tend to protect the health of our International membership.”[46]
1960. Dr. J. Christopher Wagner published a case series of mesothelioma among persons exposed to crocidolite, in the region of South Africa where crocidolite is mined and milled. After this publication, the causal role of crocidolite became quickly accepted in the scientific and medical community.[47]
1960-1961. Selikoff published two papers on the patho-physiology of asbestosis, based on data from 17 UNARCO workers,[48] obtained from his medico-legal evaluations of the men.[49]
Irving and Celia Selikoff from their 1961 Brazilian visa documents
1961-05. Asbestos insulators’ union discussed collaboration with scientists to discuss lung cancer and other diseases among its membership.[50] Union members, intensely interested in legal redress for compensation, became aware of Selikoff’s research hypothesis in advance of Selikoff’s survey of the members’ smoking habits, which the workers had a motive to under report.
1961-11. The Asbestos insulators’ union’s magazine featured a full page warning of the grim reaper urging insulators to “Wear Your Respirator.”[51] The warning was developed under the guidance of C. V. Krieger of Local No. 28, Safety Superintendent at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard.
1962-07-12. Selikoff visited Asbestos Corporation of America, an intermediary broker of asbestos fibers. In a memorandum Selikoff prepared from his discussions with Wade I. Duym, the general manager of the company, and others, he detailed the widespread use of amphibole asbestos fibers in a variety of products. He noted that amosite was used primarily in the insulation trade, and that it was the asbestos “of choice” for sprayed-on products, high temperature insulating cements and pipecovering (magnesia and calcium silicates). Selikoff described crocidolite, from Africa and Bolivia, as a strong, chemically resistant, relatively inexpensive fiber that was used in asbestos cement products, and in Kent cigarette filters.
1962-09. Selikoff presented to a meeting of the Asbestos Workers, to request their help in conducting his study of insulator mortality and morbidity. Irving Selikoff, “Speech at Asbestos Workers’ Union Annual Meeting,” The Asbestos Worker 8 (Sept. 1962).
1962. Asbestos insulators’ union acknowledged that its leadership has been collaborating with Dr. Irving Selikoff.[52] In September 1962, Selikoff and colleagues began physical examinations of members of the New York and New Jersey locals.[53] `
1962. In a publication for Naval personnel, with virtually no circulation in the general industrial community, the United States government acknowledged that shipyard and on-board exposures greatly exceeded the ACGIH’s then current TLV for asbestos.[54]
1963. Selikoff established the Environmental Sciences Laboratory, later known as the Division of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, in would become the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine’s Department of Community Medicine.
1963-02. The asbestos insulation workers’ union announces that it has begun a large-scale program of examinations for asbestos-related disease in the members of the New York and New Jersey locals.[55]
1964. Selikoff published his first article on cancer in a cohort of union asbestos insulators from New York and New Jersey.[56] Selikoff and his co-authors failed to disclose funding from the union, or the union members’ awareness of the research hypotheses under investigation.
1964. In October 1964, Selikoff organized and co-chaired (with Dr. Jacob Churg) a conference, “The Biological Effects of Asbestos, for the New York Academy of Sciences, in New York City. The conference featured presentations and papers from many international investigators. Several presenters, including Selikoff, documented the prevalent use of amphibole asbestos (both crocidolite and amosite) in the United States.[57]
1965. Papers presented at the 1964 New York Academy of Sciences conference were published in late 1965, in a non-peer reviewed publication, volume 132, of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
1965. Selikoff testified on behalf of an insulator who claimed that asbestos exposure caused his colorectal cancer.[58] Forty years later, the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) comprehensively reviewed the extant evidence and announced that the evidence was “suggestive but not sufficient to infer a causal relationship between asbestos exposure and pharyngeal, stomach, and colorectal cancers.”[59] None of Selikoff’s publications, including those on asbestos and colorectal cancer, disclosed his litigation testimonies for claimants.
1966 – 1972. Selikoff continued to testify frequently in civil action and in worker compensation proceedings for claimants who alleged asbestos-related injuries.[60] In 1972, Andrew Haas, President of the asbestos workers’ union thanked Selikoff for his “frequent” expert witness testimony on behalf of union members.[61]
1967-09. In an address to the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers, Selikoff acknowledged the widespread use of amosite, particularly in shipyards, the absence of lung cancer among non-smoking insulation workers, and the failure of more than 9 out of 10 insulators to wear respirators on dusty jobs. See Irving J. Selikoff, Address to the delegates of the twenty-first convention of the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers at 8, 9-10, 24 (Chicago, Illinois, Sept. 1967) (“I have yet to see a lung cancer in an asbestos worker who didn’t smoke cigarettes. … “[C]ancer of the lung could be wiped out in your trade if you people wouldn’t smoke cigarettes, period.”).
1968-09. Selikoff “warns” the United States of asbestos hazards that existed and continue to exist in the government’s shipyards.[62] The warning was largely about seeking media attention by Selikoff; the government, and especially the Navy, had long known of asbestos hazards.[63]
1968-05. Selikoff testified that all fibers are equally potent, to Congress in support of a bill that would become the OSH Act.
1968. The Mount Sinai School of Medicine opened in 1968, as part of The City University of New York. The first class in the newly formed medical school had 36 students in the entering class. The school was chartered in 1963. It is now known as the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
1969. Selikoff served as president of the New York Academy of Sciences.
1969-05. Selikoff acknowledged that only four percent of insulators wore a mask despite extensive warnings.[64]
1972. In a published study of variability in the interpretation of chest radiographs, Selikoff was shown consistently to over-read chest radiographs for potential asbestos-related abnormalities, when compared with other pulmonary experts on pneumoconiosis.[65]
1973. Selikoff testified for the government in United States v. Reserve Mining Co., No. 5-72 Civil 19 (D. Minn. Sept. 21, 1973).[66] On September 20, Selikoff testified about the town where Reserve Mining’s taconite mine was located: “I think we ought to have a sign at the entrance to sections of the town ‘Please Close Your Windows Before Driving Through’. I certainly would want to close mine.” When his testimony continued the following day, Selikoff acknowledged that he had been “facetious” in his previous day’s testimony.[67]
1974. After having given “facetious” testimony, Selikoff reduced his testifying activities. Marxist historians Jock McCulloch and Geoffrey Tweedale have falsely suggested that Selikoff “avoided the drama of the courtroom and the role of the expert witness” because of the drain on his time, his desire to avoid antagonizing industry, and his need to prevent discovery of trade union medical files.[68]
1974-05-20. Selikoff’s father, Abraham Selecoff, died in Florida.[69]
1974. Selikoff published a review on asbestos and gastrointestinal cancer, without disclosing his funding from the asbestos insulation union or his receipt of fees for litigation work in which he maintained a causal relationship in advance of any data.[70]
1978-07. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) invited Dr. Hans Weill to co-chair a conference on lung cancer surveillance. Ten days later, the NCI retracted the invitation. When Weill inquired about the reasons for the shoddy treatment, an NCI official (Margaret Sloan) told him that “representatives of organized labor” objected to his participation. Sloan’s superior at NCI stated that Selikoff had raised the question whether the conference’s recommendations would lose credibility if Weill were a co-chair. When asked about his role in this sordid affair, Selikoff equivocated, saying he had “simply” said that “[s]ince Weill was a consultant to the Asbestos Information Center, I didn’t know if this would enhance or detract from hearing all points of view.”[71]
1979-11-05. Barry Castleman, career testifier for the asbestos lawsuit industry, prepared a memorandum to Selikoff to urge him to resist allowing discovery of asbestos worker union members’ knowledge of the hazards of asbestos.[72]
1980-07-29. A Newsday journalist reports that Selikoff is loath to talk about himself, and that he threatens to cut short the interview when asked about his background.[73]
1981. Sir Richard Doll and Professor Richard Peto published a rebuttal to wildly exaggerated asbestos risk assessments based upon Selikoff’s insulator studies.[74]
1984. Selikoff prepared a report on his group’s epidemiologic study of Electric Boat employees, who were engaged in the construction of submarines.[75] The data did not fit the Mt. Sinai Catechism of large increased risks.[76] Selikoff never published these data in a medical journal or a textbook.[77]
1985-03-10. Selikoff retires from Mount Sinai Medical School.[78]
1986-03. Selikoff’s wife, Celia, died.[79]
1987 – 1989. Selikoff’s insulator cohort study data took on an outsize importance in litigation because of plaintiffs’ heavy reliance upon his studies in court cases. When litigants asked for these data, Selikoff consistently refused to share, which necessitated federal court intervention.[80]
1988. Selikoff and William Nicholson prepared a manuscript report of a study of the mortality experience at a New Jersey asbestos product manufacturing plant of Johns Manville.[81] Their report documented the substantial use of crocidolite in various products, and the resulting horrific mesothelioma mortality at this plant. Selikoff never published this crocidolite-exposed cohort, although he tirelessly republished his insulator cohort data repeatedly with the misrepresentation that the insulators were not exposed to crocidolite.
1990-06-07. Selikoff conspired with Ron Motley and others to pervert the course of justice by inviting judges with active asbestos dockets to a one-sided conference on asbestos science, and to pay for their travel and lodging. In his invitation to this ex parte soirée, Selikoff failed to mention that the funding came from plaintiffs’ counsel.[82] Shortly after the Third Circuit spoke on the Mt. Sinai dress rehearsal for the plaintiffs’ asbestos property damage trial case, Judge Jack Weinstein issued a curious mea culpa. Because of a trial in progress, Judge Weinstein did not attend the “Third Wave” conference, but he and a state judge (Justice Helen Freedman) attended an ex parte private luncheon meeting with Dr. Selikoff. Here is how Judge Weinstein described the event:
“But what I did may have been even worse [than Judge Kelly’s conduct that led to his disqualification]. A state judge and I were attempting to settle large numbers of asbestos cases. We had a private meeting with Dr. Irwin [sic] J. Selikoff at his hospital office to discuss the nature of his research. He had never testified and would never testify. Nevertheless, I now think that it was a mistake not to have informed all counsel in advance and, perhaps, to have had a court reporter present and to have put that meeting on the record.”[83]
What is curious is that Judge Weinstein, usually a careful judge and scholar, was so incorrect about Dr. Selikoff’s having never testified. His error could have been avoided by a simple search in the Westlaw or LexisNexis databases. Judge Weinstein’s account points directly to Dr. Selikoff as the source for this falsehood.[84]
1990-10-02. Selikoff wrote to Judge Jack Weinstein and Justice Helen Freedman, presumably after the “regrettable” ex parte luncheon meeting, to hold forth with his views on the health effects of occupational and para-occupational exposure to asbestos.
1992-05-20. Selikoff died several months before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit condemned the Selikoff-Motley conspiracy.[85]
2013. Follow up of the national insulator cohort fails to support multiplicative interaction between smoking and asbestos for lung cancer outcomes in the absence of asbestosis.[86]
[1] Rachel Maines, Asbestos and Fire: Technological Tradeoffs and the Body at Risk 155 (2005) (“charming, courageous, and compassion medical professional with more charisma than credentials”).
[2] Jock McCulloch & Geoffrey Tweedale, “Shooting the messenger: the vilification of Irving J. Selikoff,” 37 Internat’l J. Health Services 619 (2007); “Scientific Prestige, Reputation, Authority & The Creation of Scientific Dogmas” (Oct. 4, 2014); David Egilman, Geoffrey Tweedale, Jock McCulloch, William Kovarik, Barry Castleman, William Longo, Stephen Levin, and Susanna Rankin Bohme, “P.W.J. Bartrip’s Attack on Irving J. Selikoff,” 46 Am. J. Indus. Med. 151, 152 (2004) [Egilman (2004)].
[3] 84 Stat. 1590, et seq., 29 U.S.C. § 651, et seq.
[4] “The Legacy of Irving Selikoff & Wicked Wikipedia” (Mar. 1, 2015). See also “Hagiography of Selikoff” (Sept. 26, 2015); “Historians Should Verify Not Vilify or Abilify – The Difficult Case of Irving Selikoff” (Jan. 4, 2014).
[5] See, e.g., Philip Landrigan, “Stephen Levin, MD, honored with the Collegium Ramazzini’s Irving J. Selikoff Memorial Award in 2009.”
[6] See Wikipedia, “Irving Selikoff” (last visited Dec. 4, 2018).
[7] Kings County Birth Certificate no. 4595 (Jan. 15, 1915). His family later adopted the surname Selikoff. Irving Selikoff’s social security records list his father as Abraham Selikoff and his mother as Tillie Katz.
[8] Abraham Selecoff World War II draft registration, serial no. U1750.
[9] Abraham Selecoff World War II draft registration, serial no. U1750.
[10] See “The Asbestos Menace,” The Asbestos Worker 9-11 (Sept. 1930).
[11] Alice Hamilton, “Industrial Poisons,” American Federationist (1936). This journal was “The Official Magazine of the American Federation of Labor.”
[12] Bronx marriage certificate no. 8246 (1936); Bronx marriage license no. 8652 (1936). Irving’s parents were listed as Abraham Selikoff and Tillie Katz. His residence was at 109 W. 112th Street. Lydia was listed as the daughter of Mendel Kapilian and Bessie Weller. Irving and Lydia were divorced sometime between 1939 and 1941. The marriage certificates stated Lydia to have been 21 years old. Her Social Security records (SSN 112-052-2143), however, gave her birth date as April 22, 1917, (making her 19), and subsequent marriage names of Quint and Teichner.
[13] This and other details of Selikoff’s medical education come from Peter Bartrip’s exposé. Although Bartrip’s research was attacked for its allegedly gratuitous attacks on Selikoff’s research prowess, Bartrip’s account of Selikoff’s medical education in Scotland, Australia, and the United States has gone largely unrebutted, and must for the present be accepted. Peter W.J. Bartrip, “Irving John Selikoff and the Strange Case of the Missing Medical Degrees,” 58 J. History Med. 8 (2003) [Bartrip 2003]; Peter Bartrip, “Around the World in Nine Years: A Medical Education Revisited,” 59 J. History of Med. 135 (2004). One group of plaintiffs’ expert witnesses took Bartrip to task for not disclosing that he had served as a defense expert witness, but none of the complainants disclosed their substantial testimonial adventures for the litigation industry! While making some interesting points, these critics of Bartrip did not really contest his historical work on Selikoff: “Bartrip’s critiques of Anderson’s College (AC) and Middlesex University School of Medicine (MSUM) may be accurate, but are beside the point.” David Egilman, Geoffrey Tweedale, Jock McCulloch, William Kovarik, Barry Castleman, William Longo, Stephen Levin, and Susanna Rankin Bohme, “P.W.J. Bartrip’s Attack on Irving J. Selikoff,” 46 Am. J. Indus. Med. 151, 152 (2004).
[14] Bartrip 2003, at 15 & n.44-51.
[15] Bartrip 2003, at 17 & n.54-55.
[16] Bartrip 2003 at 18.
[17] William J. Nicholson & Alvin S. Teirstein, “Remembering Irving J. Selikoff,” 61 Mt. Sinai J. Med. 500 (1994) [Nicholson & Teirstein]. This account seems doubtful; Selikoff would not have an M.D. degree until 1943, and then from a school that was about to lose its accreditation.
[18] See Stephen Rushmore, “Middlesex University School of Medicine,” 230 New Engl. J. Med. 217 (1944).
[19] Anthony Seaton, “The Strange Case of Irving Selikoff,” 60 Occup. Med. 53 (2010); Peter W.J. Bartrip, “Irving John Selikoff and the Strange Case of the Missing Medical Degrees,” 58 J. History Med. 3, 27 & n.88-92 (2003) [cited as Bartrip].
[20] Bartrip 2003 at 22.
[21] Bartrip 2003 at 22.
[22] Bartrip 2003 at 21.
[23] New York County marriage license no. 3879 (Feb. 2, 1946). Celia had been married to Nathan Michaels in 1937. Manhattan Marriage License no. 21454 (1937).
[24] Nicholson & Teirstein.
[25] Manhattan Marriage License 21527 (1947).
[26] City Directory of Paterson, New Jersey at p. 218 (1949).
[27] Manhattan Telephone Directory (1949).
[28] George W. Conk, “Deadly Dust: Occupational Health and Safety as a Driving Force in Workers’ Compensation Law and the Development of Tort Doctrine,” 69 Rutgers L. Rev. 1140, 1154 & n. 136 (2017).
[29] Jon L. Gelman, “History of Asbestos and the Law” (Jan. 2, 2001). Carl Gelman was a life-long Paterson resident. His legal practice specialized in workers’ compensation, and he chaired state bar association’s workers’ compensation section for several years. His practice represented claimants from 1936, until his retirement in 1986. In the mid-1970s, with Karl Asch, Gelman’s firm sued asbestos suppliers to Raybestos Manhattan on behalf of multiple employees.Gelman died on February 24, 2009. “Obituary for Carl Gelman,” The Record/Herald News (Mar. 16, 2009); “163 Who Had Jobs at Raybestos Sue,” N.Y. Times (May 7, 1975). The suit for $326 million settled for $15.5 million.
[30] Barry I. Castleman, Asbestos: Medical and Legal Aspects at 142 (1984); Matt Mauney, “Unarco,” Mesothelioma Center (Nov. 2018). Of course, there were no data to support this claim in 1952. Selikoff was publically and positionally committed to his causal hypothesis as a conclusion well in advance of conducting any studies or having any supporting data.
[31] Irving J. Selikoff, E. Cuyler Hammond, and Jacob Churg, “The carcinogenicity of amosite asbestos,” 25 Arch. Envt’l Health 183 (1972). This 1972 publication was the first epidemiologic study on the carcinogenicity of amosite.
[32] David E. Lilienfeld, “The Silence: The Asbestos Industry and Early Occupational Cancer Research – A Case Study,” 81 Am. J. Pub. Health 791 (1991).
[33] Irving J. Selikoff, Edward H. Robitzek, and George G. Ornstein, “Treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis with hydrazine derivatives of isonicotinic acid,” 150 J. Am. Med. Ass’n 973 (1952).
[34] “TB Milestone,” Life (Mar. 3, 1952).
[35] Irving J. Selikoff, “Asbestos in Paterson, New Jersey and Tyler, Texas – A Tale of Two Cities,” Transcript of Lecture (Houston, Texas, Oct. 11, 1979).
[36] See “Isoniazid for treating tuberculosis.”
[37] See “Medical Horizons,” Broadcasting * Telecasting at 14 (Nov. 21, 1955) (describing Selikoff as a plodding presenter). See also “Irving Selikoff – Media Plodder to Media Zealot” (Sept. 9, 2014).
[38] Richard Doll, “Mortality from Lung Cancer in Asbestos Workers,” 12 Br. J. Indus. Med. 81 (1955).
[39] Selikoff letter to Thomas Mancuso (Mar. 30, 1989).
[40] Herbert K. Abrams, “Cancer in Industry,” American Federationist (1955). Dr. Abrams’ article was republished in many union newsletters. See Herbert K. Abrams, “Cancer in Industry,” 69 The Painter & Decorator 15, 16 (Mar. 1955); see also Lester Breslow, LeMar Hoaglin, Gladys Rasmussen & Herbert K. Abrams, “Occupations and Cigarette Smoking as Factors in Lung Cancer,” 44 Am. J. Pub. Health. 171, 171 (1954).
[41] A. C. & S., Inc. v. Asner, 104 Md. App. 608, 633, 657 A.2d 379 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 1995).
[42] Paul Brodeur, Outrageous Misconduct: The Asbestos Industry on Trial 236-39 (1985). According to Brodeur’s account, Johns-Manville’s defense was clever by halves. By claiming that the company had no knowledge that asbestos could be harmful to applicators such as LeGrand, the company deprived itself of assumption-of-risk and contributory negligence defenses. The company also set itself up to be brutally contradicted by internal documents and communications that showed an awareness of hazards to pipecoverers. By the time J-M understood that the question of responsibility required acknowledging potential hazards that were in the control of the contractors themselves (such as the use of proper respirators and the like), the company filed for bankruptcy.
[43] Greg Gordon, “Health studies drew little action,” Star Tribune (Nov. 9, 2003); Wondie Russell, “Memorandum re Frederick LeGrande v. J-M Products Corp,”(Nov. 3, 1982).
[44] The Freehold Transcript and The Monmouth Inquirer (Freehold, New Jersey) at 17 (Thurs., Oct. 22, 1959).
[45] Asbestos Worker (July 1957).
[46] The Asbestos Worker at 1 (Oct, 1957) (reporting on the Asbestos Workers’ 19th General Convention).
[47] See J. Christopher Wagner, C.A. Sleggs, and Paul Marchand, “Diffuse pleural mesothelioma and asbestos exposure in the North Western Cape Province,” 17 Br. J. Indus. Med. 260 (1960); J. Christopher Wagner, “The discovery of the association between blue asbestos and mesotheliomas and the aftermath,” 48 Br. J. Indus. Med. 399 (1991).
[48] Arthur M. Langer, “Asbestos Studies in the Environmental Sciences Laboratory Mount Sinai School of Medicine 1965 – 1985: Investigations Reflecting State-of-the-Art; Contributions to the Understanding of Asbestos Medicine” (Unpublished MS, Nov. 7, 2008).
[49] Alvin S. Tierstein, A. Gottlieb, Mortimer E. Bader, Richard A. Bader & Irving Selikoff, “Pulmonary mechanics in asbestosis of the lungs,” 8 Clin. Res. 256 (1960); Mortimer E. Bader, Richard A. Bader & Irving Selikoff, “Pulmonary function in asbestosis of the lung; an alveolar-capillary block syndrome, 30 Am. J. Med. 235 (1961).
[50] Asbestos Worker (May 1961) (“The subject matter of Health Hazards was discussed and President Sickles reported on the possibility of an early meeting with people connected with the Medical Association for the purpose of running various tests on certain materials used by our membership in order to determine the extent of their contribution to lung cancer, silicosis, asbestosis, tuberculosis, etc.”).
[51] 15 The Asbestos Worker at 29 (Nov. 1961).
[52] Asbestos Worker (May 1962) (“President Sickles advised the Board as to a meeting which had been held with Vice President Rider and a Dr. Irving Selikoff, of the Paterson Clinic in connection with our issue on Health Hazards and the Committee on Health Hazards with the approval of the Board instructed President Sickles to continue his efforts in this direction.”)
[53] Asbestos Worker at 25 (Feb. 1963).
[54] Capt. H.M. Robbins & William T. Marr, “Asbestosis,” 19 Safety Review 10 (1962) (noting that asbestos dust counts of 200 million particles per cubic foot were not uncommon during insulation ripouts onboard naval vessels).
[55] “Progress Report on Health Hazards,” 16 The Asbestos Worker 25 (Feb. 1963) (the examination were arranged by President Carl Sickles, Vice-President Hugh Mulligan and Vice-President George Rider of the Health Hazards Committee).
[56] Irving J. Selikoff, Jacob Churg, and E. Cuyler Hammond, “Asbestos Exposure and Neoplasia,” 188 J. Am. Med. Ass’n 22 (1964).
[57] Irving J. Selikoff, Jacob Churg, E. Cuyler Hammond, “The Occurrence of Asbestosis among Insulation Workers in the United States,” 132 Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 139, 142 (1965) (“In later specimens so obtained, crocidolite has also been found. Moreover, materials used for ship insulation, while containing the same amounts of asbestos as above, began in 1934 to have significant amounts of amosite in addition to chrysotile, because of the lighter weight of the material.”); Harrington, “Chemical Studies of Asbestos,” 132 Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 31, 41 (1965) (reporting the finding of chrysotile and crocidolite asbestos in equal proportions in specimens of 85% magnesia pipe-covering sections); N.W. Hendry, “The Geology, Occurrences, and Major Uses of Asbestos 132 Annals N.Y. Acad. Sci. 12, 19 (1965) (reporting that, in 1963, the U.S. used 22,000 tons of amosite in manufactured products, and 17,000 tons of crocidolite in acid-resistent filters, packings, insulations, and certain types of lagging. United States Department of Commerce statistics show that for the years 1957 to 1962, more crocidolite was used in the United States than was amosite. In 1962, the use of blue was twice as great as that for brown. 132 Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. at 753, Table 17 (1965); see also id. at 762, Table 23 (1965) (South African blue fiber imports exceeded brown fiber imports, starting about 1954). See also “Selikoff and the Mystery of the Disappearing Amphiboles” (Dec. 10, 2010); James R. Millette, Steven Compton, and Christopher DePasquale, “Microscopical Analyses of Asbestos-Cement Pipe and Board,” 66 The Microscope 3 (2018) (reporting analyses of cement formulations with substantial crocidolite).
[58] “Health Hazard Progress Notes,”16 The Asbestos Worker 13 (May 1966) (“A recent decision has widened the range of compensable diseases for insulation workers even further. A member of Local No. 12. Unfortunately died of a cancer of the colon. Dr. Selikoff reported to the compensation court that his research showed that these cancers of the intestine were at least three times as common among the insulation workers as in men of the same age in the general population. Based upon Dr. Selikoff’s testimony, the Referee gave the family a compensation award, holding that the exposure to many dusts during employment was responsible for the cancer. The insurance company appealed this decision. A special panel of the Workman’s Compensation Board reviewed the matter and agreed with the Referee’s judgement and affirmed the compensation award. This was the first case in which a cancer of the colon was established as compensable and it is likely that this case will become an historical precedent.”)
[59] Jonathan Samet, et al., eds., Institute of Medicine Review of Asbestos: Selected Cancers (2006); see also Richard Doll & Julian Peto, Asbestos: Effects on health of exposure to asbestos 8 (1985) (“In particular, there are no grounds for believing that gastrointestinal cancers in general are peculiarly likely to be caused by asbestos exposure.”).
[60] “Selikoff and the Mystery of the Disappearing Testimony” (Dec. 3, 2010); see, e.g., Barros v. United States, 147 F.Supp. 340, 343-44 (E.D.N.Y. 1957) (noting that Dr. Selikoff testified for seaman suing for maintenance and cure as a result of a slip and fall; finding for respondent against libelant); DeRienzo v. Passaic Fire Dept., reported in The News (Paterson, New Jersey) at 27 (Feb. 14, 1957) (Selikoff was a witness for the claimant); Bradshaw v. Twin City Insulation Co. Ltd., Indus. Ct. Indiana, Claim No. O.D.1454 (Oct. 14, 1966); Bradshaw v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp., Civ. Action No. 29433, E. D. Mich. S. Div. (July 6, 1967); Bambrick v. Asten Hill Mfg. Co., Pa. Cmwlth. Ct. 664 (1972); Tomplait v. Combustion Engineering Inc.., E. D. Tex. Civ. Action No. 5402 (March 4, 1968); Babcock & Wilcox, Inc. v. Steiner, 258 Md. 468, 471, 265 A.2d 871 (1970) (affirming workman compensation award for asbestosis); Rogers v. Johns-Manville Products Corp., Cir. Ct. Mo., 16th Jud. Cir., Div. 9, Civ. Action No. 720,071 (Feb. 19, 1971); Utter v. Asten-Hill Mfg. Co., 453 Pa. 401 (1973); Karjala v Johns-Manville Products Corp., D. Minn., Civ. Action Nos. 5–71 Civ. 18, and Civ. 40 (Feb. 8, 1973); Culp Industrial Insulation v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, 57 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 599, 601-602 (1981).
[61] Andrew Haas, Comments from the General President, 18 Asbestos Worker (Nov. 1972); see also Peter W.J. Bartrip, “Irving John Selikoff and the Strange Case of the Missing Medical Degrees,” 58 J. History Med. 3, 27 & n.88-92 (2003) (citing Haas).
[62] Thomas O’Toole, “U.S. Warned of Asbestos Peril,” Wash. Post. A4 (Dec. 4, 1968).
[63] “The United States Government’s Role in the Asbestos Mess” (Jan. 31, 2012). See also Kara Franke & Dennis Paustenbach, “Government and Navy knowledge regarding health hazards of Asbestos: A state of the science evaluation (1900 to 1970),” 23(S3) Inhalation Toxicology 1 (2011); Capt. H.M. Robbins & W.T. Marr, “Asbestosis,” Safety Review (Oct. 1962); See also Walter Olson, “Asbestos awareness pre-Selikoff,” (Oct. 19, 2007).
[64] “Green Sheet,” The Asbestos Worker (May 1969).
[65] See Charles E. Rossiter, “Initial repeatability trials of the UICC/Cincinnati classification of the radiographic appearances of pneumoconioses,” 29 Brit. J. Indus. Med. 407 (1972) (among physician readers of chest radiographs, Selikoff was at the extreme of least likely to call a film normal (less than half the average of all readers), and the most likely to interpret films to show excess profusion of small irregular linear densities). See “Selikoff and the Mystery of the Disappearing Asbestosis” (Dec. 6, 2010). The unions, of course, interested in maximizing compensation for their members loved Selikoff’s over-reading of chest films. Selikoff’s colleagues (Ruth Lilis) routinely teased Selikoff about not being able to read chest radiographs. Selikoff was rumored to have taken and failed the NIOSH B-Reader examination, a rumor which needs to be resolved by a FOIA request.
[66] United States v. Reserve Mining Co. See United States v. Reserve Mining Co., 56 F.R.D. 408 (D.Minn.1972); Armco Steel Corp. v. United States, 490 F.2d 688 (8th Cir. 1974); United States v. Reserve Mining Co., 380 F.Supp. 11 (D.Minn.1974); Reserve Mining Co. v. United States, 498 F.2d 1073 (8th Cir. 1974); Minnesota v. Reserve Mining Co., 418 U.S. 911 (1974); Minnesota v. Reserve Mining Co., 419 U.S. 802 (1974); United States v. Reserve Mining Co., 394 F.Supp. 233 (D.Minn.1974); Reserve Mining Co. v. Environmental Protection Agency, 514 F.2d 492 (8th Cir. 1975); Minnesota v. Reserve Mining Co., 420 U.S. 1000, 95 S.Ct. 1441, 43 L.Ed.2d 758 (1975); Reserve Mining Co. v. Lord, 529 F.2d 181 (8th Cir. 1976); United States v. Reserve Mining Co., 408 F.Supp. 1212 (D.Minn.1976); United States v. Reserve Mining Co., 412 F.Supp. 705 (D.Minn.1976); United States v. Reserve Mining Co., 417 F.Supp. 789 (D.Minn.1976); United States v. Reserve Mining Co., 417 F.Supp. 791 (D.Minn.1976); 543 F.2d 1210 (1976).
[67] Robert V. Bartlett, The Reserve Mining Controversy: Science, Technology, and Environmental Quality 140-41 (1980) (describing Selikoff’s testimony).
[68] Jock McCulloch & Geoffrey Tweedale, Defending the Indefensible: The Global Asbestos Industry and its Fight for Survival: The Global Asbestos Industry and its Fight for Survival 95 & n.36 (2008). These authors ignored other reasons Selikoff later stood down from the witness chair: his self-serving insistence upon the importance of his own research detracted from the work of previous authors (e.g., Sir Richard Doll, J. Christopher Wagner, et al.) in litigation of personal injury claims of asbestos health effects. Plaintiffs’ counsel needed to push back the dates of first knowledge of asbestos health effects well before Selikoff’s first insulator study in 1964. The litigation industry needed Selikoff to continue to generate publicity, and to stop testifying. Selikoff surely must have had some concerns about how further testifying would eventually lead to questions about his credentials. Furthermore, Selikoff had an entire generation of younger, less politically visible colleagues at Mt. Sinai to fill the ranks of expert witnesses for the litigation industry (Miller, Levin, Nicholson, Lillis, Daum, Anderson, Frank, et al.).
[69] Obituary for Abraham Selecoff, The Miami Herald (May 22, 1974).
[70] Irving J. Selikoff, “Epidemiology of gastrointestinal cancer,” 9 Envt’l Health Persp. 299 (1974) (arguing for causal conclusion between asbestos and all gastrointestinal cancers).
[71] Nicholas Wade, “The Science and Politics of a Disinvitation,” 201 Science 892 (1978) (commenting that the NCI was negligent in failing to evaluate the ad hominem opinions given to it by Selikoff).
[72] See “The Selikoff – Castleman Conspiracy” (Mar. 13, 2011); “What Happens When Historians Have Bad Memories” (Mar. 15, 2014); “Castleman-Selikoff – Can Their Civil Conspiracy Survive Death?” (Dec. 3, 2018). In 2014, Castleman testified that he has no recollection of the memorandum, but he did not deny that had written it.
[73] B.D. Colen, “Knowing When the Chemistry is Right,” Newsday (Suffolk Edition) (Melville, New York) at 85 (Tue., July 29, 1980).
[74] See Richard Doll & Richard Peto, “The causes of cancer: quantitative estimates of avoidable risks of cancer in the United States today,” 66 J. Nat’l Cancer Inst. 1191 (1981).
[75] Irving Selikoff & William Nicholson, “Mortality Experience of 1,918 Employees of the Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut January 1, 1967 – June 30, 1978” (Jan. 27, 1984).
[76] “The Mt. Sinai Catechism” (June 5, 2013).
[77] “Irving Selikoff and the Right to Peaceful Dissembling” (June 5, 2013).
[78] Leo H. Caney, “Noted Cancer Researcher Altering Role,” N.Y. Times (Mar. 10, 1985).
[79] Celia Selikoff Social Security Records, SSN 064-12-6401. Celia was born on Sept. 12, 1908.
[80] A New York state trial court initially sided with Selikoff over this subpoena battle. In re R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 136 Misc.2d 282, 518 N.Y.S.2d 729 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., N.Y. Cty. 1987). The federal court subsequently required Selikoff to honor another litigant’s subpoena. In re American Tobacco Co., 866 F.2d 552 (2d Cir. 1989).
[81] William J. Nicholson & Irving J. Selikoff, “Mortality experience of asbestos factory workers; effect of differing intensities of asbestos exposure”: unpublished manuscript produced in litigation (1988) (“[O]ther asbestos varieties (amosite, crocidolite, anthophyllite) were also used for some products. In general, chrysotile was used for textiles, roofing materials, asbestos cements, brake and friction products, fillers for plastics, etc.; chrysotile with or without amosite for insulation materials; chrysotile and crocidolite for a variety of asbestos cement products.”).
[82] In re School Asbestos Litigation, 977 F.2d 764 (3d Cir. 1992). See Cathleen M. Devlin, “Disqualification of Federal Judges – Third Circuit Orders District Judge James McGirr Kelly to Disqualify Himself So As To Preserve ‘The Appearance of Justice’ Under 28 U.S.C. § 455 – In re School Asbestos Litigation (1992),” 38 Villanova L. Rev. 1219 (1993); Bruce A. Green, “May Judges Attend Privately Funded Educational Programs? Should Judicial Education Be Privatized?: Questions of Judicial Ethics and Policy,” 29 Fordham Urb. L.J. 941, 996-98 (2002).
[83] Jack B. Weinstein, “Learning, Speaking, and Acting: What Are the Limits for Judges?” 77 Judicature 322, 326 (May-June 1994) (emphasis added). Judge Weinstein’s false statement that Selikoff “had never testified” not only reflects an incredible and uncharacteristic naiveté by a distinguished evidence law scholar, but the false statement was in a journal, Judicature, which was widely circulated to state and federal judges. The source of the lie appears to have been Selikoff himself in the ethically dodgy ex parte meeting with judges actively presiding over asbestos personal injury cases.
[84] Jack B. Weinstein, “Learning, Speaking, and Acting: What Are the Limits for Judges?” 77 Judicature 322, 326 (May-June 1994). The point apparently weighed on Judge Weinstein’s conscience. He repeated his mea culpa almost verbatim, along with the false statement about Selikoff’s never having testified, in a law review article in 1994, and then incorporated the misrepresentation into a full-length book. See Jack B. Weinstein, “Limits on Judges’ Learning, Speaking and Acting – Part I- Tentative First Thoughts: How May Judges Learn?” 36 Ariz. L. Rev. 539, 560 (1994) (“He [Selikoff] had never testified and would never testify.”); Jack B. Weinstein, Individual Justice in Mass Tort Litigation: The Effect of Class Actions, Consolidations, and other Multi-Party Devices 117 (1995) (“A court should not coerce independent eminent scientists, such as the late Dr. Irving Selikoff, to testify if, like he, they prefer to publish their results only in scientific journals.”).
[85] Social Security records for Irving John Selikoff, social sec. no. 085-16-1882. See Bruce Lambert, “Irving J. Selikoff Is Dead at 77; TB Researcher Fought Asbestos,” N.Y. Times (May 22, 1992).
[86] Steve Markowitz, Stephen Levin, Albert Miller, and Alfredo Morabia, “Asbestos, Asbestosis, Smoking and Lung Cancer: New Findings from the North American Insulator Cohort,” Am. J. Respir. & Critical Care Med. (2013)).
