He used infant mortality reports, presenting his findings in a big conference, I think in Pittsburgh. A reporter from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote the story, which made the front page here. Everyone got excited. There was a slight problem with his findings, however. What he didn't take into consideration was when the deaths occurred.
Most counties save their reports for a batch mailing.
They are not reported, necessarily, in the month that they occur. We found that most of the deaths he reported actually occurred before Chernobyl even blew its lid. When I presented that side on the local news, I actually received an apology from the reporter who wrote the original story. She wrote a clarifying story the next day. The editors, however, didn't give it the visibility that the first story received.