“Submission Battelle or Griffith developments to Surgeon General undesirable...disturbed at its implications re: cardiovascular disorders...”
The top 1963 memo from Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company demonstrates the tobacco industry knew their product had health risks decades ago. Mr. Yeaman of B&W informs Mr McCormick of British American Tobacco Co that the TIRC (Tobacco Industry Research Committee) has agreed to withhold Battelle research reports and the Griffith studies until TIRC can reassess and reevaluate their policy around health. The second 1963 memo shows that originally, the Battelle research was undertaken by BAT to show beneficial effects of nicotine on the smoker. These reports were passed along prematurely to the TIRC and had to quickly be withheld until a strategy could be formulated.
https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/qplw0142
https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/jfgh0097
