Day 297 - 08 Nov 96 - Page 04
1 that approach to it, also look at what the actual chances
2 are of getting it, which is a part of the case which
3 concerns me, because I have not had any statistical
4 evidence, you know, at all in this case. But look at the
5 picture from both angles and then ask is there a very real
6 risk.
7
8 MR. RAMPTON: There is in fact some statistical evidence, but I
9 will get to that.
10
11 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am not saying there is not any. If one
12 looks in the articles there are some statistics here and
13 there, but I have not had any statistician, for instance,
14 go into the witness box and marshall it all. Medical
15 statistics is a terribly complicated area, and, as it
16 happens, I have not actually had any evidence of that kind
17 really, not from the witness box. But there we are.
18 I have got to use what I have got.
19
20 MS. STEEL: I think we do know that heart disease is certainly
21 a sort of number one killer, and, as the Plaintiffs
22 admitted, there is a causal relationship between diet and
23 heart disease and it is considered that a considerable
24 number of those cases would be attributed to diet (Pause).
25 There were some references from some of our witnesses to
26 some figures, which I will be going through later.
27
28 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I know Dr. Barnard's last statement had some
29 figures, the difficulty being that we did not actually have
30 any of the articles he relied on. But none of this is to
31 deter you. It is not an easy matter. It arises out of the
32 finding I made as to the ruling, but that, in my view, was
33 forced on me by the form of the leaflet and the need to put
34 out of one's mind what the consequences might be when
35 deciding what -- it would be very easy to have decided in
36 favour of Mr. Rampton's submission, which would have made
37 the decision much easier, or decided in favour of your
38 interpretation which would have made the decision very much
39 easier, but I did not feel able to do that.
40
41 MS. STEEL: I think it was largely accepted that the actual
42 paragraph in the fact sheet about nutrition and the links
43 between diet and ill health was perfectly clear and that
44 there was a link, and it was only that the cartoon and the
45 arches -----
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I quite agree, but I have decided that that
48 is all part of it, and therefore -----
49
50 MS. STEEL: I understand what you are saying, though obviously
51 we still do not accept that.
52
53 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I know that, but you have to accept it for
54 the purposes of the form of this. When this is all over,
55 whatever the result is, if I decide in your favour on this,
56 no doubt you will be perfectly content with that. If I
57 decide against you on this, you can go away and tell
58 everyone that it was all because the judge made the wrong
59 decision on meaning. That is your perfect entitlement.
60 But when I am deciding it, I have to decide on the basis of
