Mackical Corfe t +

 

 

 

MONTEFIORE HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL CENTER
ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
BRONX, NEW YORK

Victor W. Sidel, M.D. Mailing Address:
Chief, Division of Social Medicine Division of Social Medicine
Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center
Professor of Community Health 11] East 210th Street
Albert Einstein College of Medicine Bronx, New York 10467
Telephone: (212) 920-5508
VIA AIR MAIL September 3, 1969

Prof. Joshua Lederberg
Department of Genetics
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford, Calif. 94305

Dear Dr. Lederberg:

I apologize for the long delay in responding to your letter
of August 4. It was sent to my old office in Boston, and
there was considerable delay in forwarding it to me here in
New York where I have just started in my new duties.

The reprint which you requested is enclosed. While I had
known and admired your work in several other areas including
the opposition to CBW, I had not known of your interest in
this area and was extremely pleased to read the series of
articles in the Washington Post. Some of the more recent
materials which may be of interest to you, if you have not
already seen them, include an article by Curran in the May,
1969 American Journal of Psychiatry (as well as his article
in the July 31, 1969 New England Journal of Medicine, on
which the Snedeker editorial was written); an article by
Freed on "Legal Aspects of Computer Use in Medicine" in

the Autumn, 1967 issue of Law and Contemporary Problems,
published by the Duke University School of Law in Durham;
an article by Ruebhausen and Brim on "Privacy and Behavioral
Research" in the November, 1965 Columbia Law Review; and

of course the series of Hearings before various Committees
of Congress, probably the best of which were the Hearings
before the Committee on Government Operations of the House
in May and July, 1966. You may in addition be interested
in a report entitled "Problems and Perspectives in the
Design of a Community Health Information System" which was
prepared under the auspices of the Joint Center for Urban
Studies of M.I.T. and Harvard under contract to the U. S.
Public Health Service in February, 1969. I was co-investi-
gator with Pat Moynihan and James Besséhers on this project
and Curran's article in the New England Journal of Medicine
on July 31 was drawn from his work for the project. I have
only a single copy of the report, but you might be able to
obtain it from Mrs. Katherine Bauer at the Joint Center in

 

 

 

 

 

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being
and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”

From The Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization
September 3, 1969

Prof. Joshu Lederberg

Cambridge or from the U.S. Public Health Service. With
regard to the situation in Britain, Curran and Cass wrote

an article in The Lancet entitled "Rights of Privacy in
Medical Practice™ in 1965.

We also, as you noted, share a common concern with CBW.

I am taking the liberty of enclosing a couple of my most
recent pieces on this, and I would like to remain in close
contact with you on this.

May I say in closing how much I admire all of the work
you have been doing in all these fields, and I hope that
our paths will cross in the very near future.

Sincerely yours,

Victor W. Sidel, M.D.

VWS:sw
encls.