1933 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 111 East 210th Street Albert Einstein College of Medicine Bronx, New York 10467 Telephone: (212) 920-5508 VIA AIR MATL January 9, 1970 Prof. Joshua Lederberg Department of Genetics Stanford University Medical Center Stanford, Calif. 94305 Dear Professor Lederberg: Thank you very much for writing me on both my presentation before the AAAS and on the possibility of misuse of medical data held by selective service boards. To cover the easier one first, I know of no specific abuses in this area nor do I know of any societies which are concerning themselves with this issue. I plan to bring your letter to the attention of the Steering Committee of the Council of Health Organizations (which includes repre- sentatives from the Medical Committee for Human Rights, the Physicians Forum,and the Physicians for Social Responsibility) of which I am a member. If the Council, or any of the constituent organization&§ decide to take any action in this area I will keep you fully informed. Again, my congratulations on your efforts in these areas. With regard to the AAAS Statement, I am enclosing a copy so that you can read g@ the entire argument which leads up to my proposal. I must object to your calling it “Klaus Fuchs logic" because Fuchs, in secrecy, conveyed information to a single other power. My proposal is that this information should be openly conveyed to an international body for international publi- cation. I believe the similarities between this and what Fuchs did, without commenting on the propriety or lack of propriety of what he did,afe very small. Clearly I am in favor of the internalization of international law within each country's domestic system. However there will always be countttes which will choose to live outside the framework of either written or customary international law. Under such circumstances, I said, and I still believe, a scientist or physician has no choice but to disobey his national law if necessary to comply with the international law. The classical example, of course,is that of Nazi Germany in which the national law demanded genocide and customary international law forbade it; there is very little question in my mind that under these circumstances the national law should have been “Health is a state of complete physical, menial and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” From The Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization win Prof. Joshua Lederberg January 9, 1970 broken and the customary international law honored. The situation will of course not be quite so clear-cut in relation to other conflicts be- tween national law and international law, but this in my view does not relieve the individual of the responsibility of making conscious ethical choices where conflicts occur. I would therefore rephrase your criticism that the person who respects international lawsie ase contrary to his national laws is “placing himself above the law." I would rather suggest that those who obey national laws,even though they know them to be contrary to the international laws of humanity, are placing themselves above the law, and are doing it in the most cowardly sort of way, hoping that their nation's unlawful posture will protect them from the consequences of their own wrong-doing. I doubt that we are as far apart on this issue as it would appear from this exchange of correspondence. In any event we will have a chance to discuss it, both in public and I hope in private, when we are both part of the panel at Stanford University on Saturday, February 7. I'm looking forward to it. Sincerely, Jz woe Victor W. Sidel, M.D. VWS :sw encl. EY dascin dks Ok as wari a Sout as Ng Mimagal's Lac (xe ot aged ha) seam Yo do) bv ~-oR eR ~(Me exr