AC LGQO BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY ASSOCIATED UNIVERSITIES, INC. Upton, New York 11973 Medica! Department Oo (516) 345- 3328 October 25, 1977 Mr. Ronald G. Bakal : Attorney at Law ' 8447 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 409 - Beverly Hills, Ca’ifornia 90211. . Ce Dear Mr. Bakal, . . Your letter of October 19, 1977, to Dr. Conard, has been referred. tome. ‘The fact that your office "demands an explanation," the fact that you appear to believe that your office must be notified of events relating to the medical surveys in the Marshall Islands, the fact that your letter wa&® circulated to so many people, has Dr. Conard wonder if there is involved some legal obligation of he is ignorant. | I share his confusion. all and made which I know of no contractual or no statutory basis on which such a legal obligation could be founded. It does seem to me that if you are interested in the reasons why Utirik Atoll was not included in the recent quarterly medical survey, . that you question the Utirik Council. It was the Council's notification to Dr. Conard that the services of Dr. Knudsen, the resident physician, would .not be welcome on Utirik that forced Dr. Knudsen ta bypass Utirik. If your office were to ask Dr. Conard for his recollection of his conversation with members of the Council, I am confident he would be willing to oblige you. Sincerely, N. Peter Rathvon, General Council aesia ar Jr. are