Day 030 - 03 Oct 94 - Page 17
1 A. Yes, because it seems to be, in this context, this
2 comes to the centre of the matter, because in your
3 statement complained of, one of the things that is said,
4 as I recall from memory, is something like, "This is not
5 cranky opinion. This is established medical fact". Is
6 that a rough -----
7
8 Q. Something like that.
9 A. You would agree that is roughly what part of the
10 statement complained of?
11
12 Q. Yes.
13 A. Well, it seems to me the crux of the matter here is
14 what is meant by "established medical fact". My own view,
15 subject to the court's judgment, is what is meant by that
16 is the concurrence of judgment -- is the concurrence of
17 judgment of expert committees that are set up for that
18 purpose; as I say, either by governments or by
19 authoritative scientific bodies. If that is what is meant
20 by fact, which is to say a judgment based on fact, then I
21 think the statement complained of is fair.
22
23 Q. We will come to that later on. Let us just go to that
24 now. Would you say it is generally accepted -- would you
25 like to put the case of what you feel is generally
26 accepted by -----
27
28 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just wait a moment. Is this set out in more
29 detail in -- is the answer to that question in Mr.
30 Cannon's supplemental statement?
31
32 MR. MORRIS: Yes, it is on page 2.
33
34 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am sure there would be no objection by
35 Mr. Rampton -- why not let Mr. Cannon have his statement
36 in front of him and go to the relevant part? I will
37 underline it and you can ask him if he wants to add
38 anything to it or explain it in any way.
39
40 MR. MORRIS: Do you have a copy of your statement?
41 A. Yes, I have.
42
43 Q. If you go to page 2 you have said: "It is generally
44 accepted by authoritative scientific bodies that a diet
45 high in fatty meat, dairy products, fat, saturated fat,
46 sugar and/or salt, and correspondingly low in vegetables,
47 fruit, starchy foods, and fibre, such as that typically
48 eaten in the UK, is an important cause of disorders and
49 diseases that are disagreeable (tooth decay,
50 constipation), debilitating (obesity, diseases of the
51 bones and gut), and also deadly (stroke, heart attacks,
52 and various cancers including those of the breast and
53 colon)."
54
55 Can you just outline how you came to that conclusion, that
56 it was generally accepted by authoritative scientific
57 bodies?
58 A. Well, a couple of comments on what you said. You
59 missed out "eg", that is to say, "for example". That is
60 not a complete list. As I say, in the beginning of my
