United States v. An Article of Drug, Etc., and Palmer Chemical & Equipment Company, Inc., Claimant-Appellant

661 F.2d 742, 9 Fed. R. Serv. 562, 1981 U.S. App. LEXIS 16014
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedNovember 16, 1981
Docket79-4077
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 661 F.2d 742 (United States v. An Article of Drug, Etc., and Palmer Chemical & Equipment Company, Inc., Claimant-Appellant) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. An Article of Drug, Etc., and Palmer Chemical & Equipment Company, Inc., Claimant-Appellant, 661 F.2d 742, 9 Fed. R. Serv. 562, 1981 U.S. App. LEXIS 16014 (9th Cir. 1981).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq., an animal drug may not be marketed in interstate commerce unless (1) the FDA has approved a new drug application pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 360b, or (2) the drug is not a “new animal drug” because it is “generally recognized, among experts qualified by scientific training and experience to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of animal drugs, as safe and effective for use under the conditions prescribed, recommended, or suggested in the labeling thereof.” 21 U.S.C. § 321(w)(l). If neither of these conditions is met, the drug is deemed an “adulterated” *745 new animal drug, 21 U.S.C. § 351(a)(5), and, if found in interstate commerce, may be seized and condemned, 21 U.S.C. § 334. Shipment of such drugs may be enjoined. 21 U.S.C. §§ 331, 332(a).

Complaints for forfeiture were filed against the animal drugs Cap-Chur-Sol and U-Tha-Sol. Warrants were issued and quantities of both drugs were seized. Palmer Chemical & Equipment Co. intervened as claimant to defend the drugs against forfeiture. Palmer Chemical conceded no new drug application was on file. The sole issue for trial, therefore, was whether the drugs were generally recognized by experts as safe and effective.

The jury found the drugs subject to forfeiture. After the verdict but prior to entry of judgment, the government moved to amend the complaint to add a prayer for injunctive relief. The motion was granted. Judgment was entered condemning the seized drugs and enjoining Palmer Chemical from distributing further quantities in interstate commerce. This appeal followed. We affirm.

Palmer Chemical contends the warrants of seizure did not satisfy the requirements of the Fourth Amendment’s warrant clause. We need not reach the issue since Palmer Chemical conceded at oral argument that the requirements for forfeiture were proven by evidence not tainted by the seizure. United States v. One (1) 1971 Harley-Davidson Motorcycle, 508 F.2d 351, 352 (9th Cir. 1974); John Bacall Imports, Ltd. v. United States, 412 F.2d 586, 588 (9th Cir. 1969).

Palmer Chemical objects to the district court’s refusal to allow testimony regarding feral dog overpopulation, claiming this testimony would have shown the need for a drug to cure the problem. The only issue at trial was whether there was general recognition among qualified experts that the drugs seized were “safe and effective.” Proof that some drug was needed to immobilize or destroy feral dogs was irrelevant to whether appellant’s drugs are generally recognized to meet that need safely and effectively.

The district court properly rejected proposed instructions setting out standards for determining whether a drug was “safe” and “effective.” It was not the jurors’ function to determine whether in fact these drugs were safe and effective, but rather whether there was general recognition among experts that they were safe and effective. See United States v. Naremco, Inc., 553 F.2d 1138 at 1142; AMP, Inc. v. Gardner, 389 F.2d 825, 831 (2d Cir. 1968). Instructions stating standards to be applied in determining whether in fact the drugs were safe and effective could only have confused and mislead the jury.

Palmer Chemical argues that Mr. Harold Palmer, president of Palmer Chemical, should have been allowed to testify as an expert witness. An expert testifying in a forfeiture proceeding must be qualified by “scientific training and experience to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of animal drugs.” Mr. Palmer’s resume listed no relevant educational qualifications. At most he could demonstrate some practical experience with the specific products involved in this case. We are not prepared to hold that the district court’s refusal to permit Mr. Palmer to testify as an expert was “manifestly erroneous.” Reno-West Coast Distribution Co. v. Mead Corp., 613 F.2d 722, 726 (9th Cir. 1979); see Simeon Management Corp. v. FTC, 579 F.2d 1137, 1143 (9th Cir. 1978).

The district court allowed expert witnesses to read excerpts from treatises into evidence during the course of their testimony, but refused to admit the treatises themselves as exhibits, thus following the “learned treatise” exception to the hearsay rule, Fed.R.Evid. 803(18). Palmer Chemical contends, however, that the mere existence of the published studies and investigations regarding the drugs involved was probative, and therefore the treatises were not hearsay. The district court correctly rejected this argument. The treatises were relevant only as proof that their authors, as experts, believed the drugs were *746 safe and effective, or that the drugs were in fact safe and effective, thus providing a foundation for the testimony of other experts, see Weinberger v. Hynson, Westcott & Dunning Inc., 412 U.S. 609, 629, 93 S.Ct. 2469, 2483, 37 L.Ed.2d 207 (1973). Either way, they were hearsay.

Palmer Chemical argues the district court erred in denying a jury request either to review the treatises themselves, or to review the transcript of testimony about the treatises. The trial court has broad discretion as to materials that may go into a jury room, and its decision will be upheld unless there was an abuse of that discretion. Since the treatises themselves were excludable as hearsay, the court properly refused to allow the jury to inspect them. Although we have more trouble with the denial of the request to inspect the transcript, we conclude there was no abuse of discretion. A trial judge is in a better position than we to determine whether the beneficial effects from allowing the jury to review a part of the transcript outweigh the risk that the jury will give undue weight to that part of the evidence. See United States v. Baxter, 492 F.2d 150, 175 (9th Cir. 1973).

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661 F.2d 742, 9 Fed. R. Serv. 562, 1981 U.S. App. LEXIS 16014, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-an-article-of-drug-etc-and-palmer-chemical-equipment-ca9-1981.