Marshall Brucer
He was appointed Chairman of the Medical Division of Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies in 1949, where he researched the applications of radiation in the treatment of cancer and other malignant diseases.
[2] During the late 1930s he studied human physiological responses to the increasing pace and changing nature of modern life, including blood pressure and heart conditions.
In 1949, Brucer became the Chairman of the Medical Division of the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies, where he researched the application of radiation in the treatment of cancers and other malignant diseases.
[19] In 1955, Brucer dedicated a new cobalt-based radiotherapy machine at the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, California.
In 1956, Brucer said of progress in his field:Isotopes remain potentially wonderful but the challenge now is how to handle them right, how to watch our step.
[27] In 1958, Brucer tested experimental treatments for leukemia, involving the application of full body radiation and bone marrow transplants.
Brucer said of the work:The amount of radiation between wiping out the bone marrow and the amount needed to kill a patient is a very fine line... it is not yet good therapy, but most [of the patients at Oak Ridge] are terminal cases anyhow and maybe it is justifiable to deprive some of a few months of life to give life to those that are not killed.
[28]In 1959, Brucer collaborated with Dr Melvin L. Jacobs and physicist Leon Pape on the establishment of a new facility at the City of Hope Medical Center for research into full body radiation.
[29] Brucer was also involved in the promotion of research grants and gave occasional presentations and radio broadcasts on nuclear medicine in the 1950s around the United States.
[30][31][32][33][34] In 1961, Brucer presented a research paper to the Journal of the American Medical Association which suggested that the question of whether all radiation exposure was harmful was still open.
By this time he had published over 200 scientific papers and four books, and was acting as an editor of the International Journal of Applied Radiation and Radioisotopes.
In the same piece he argued that it was far easier to kill someone with an automobile than with radiation and made reassuring statements about the relative safety of American nuclear facilities.
The piece was written in response to questions posed by the public following the irradiation of eight people at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in an accident there.
[48] In 1959, Brucer went on to speak of nuclear weapon test fallout, predicting that public anxiety on the subject would peak in 1961 or 1962.
"[54][55][56] In 1961, Brucer suggested that the basement of a domestic residence would be sufficient protection from distant fallout, and raised concern regarding the impact of an accidental detonation of a nuclear weapon from the American inventory.
