United States v. El-O-Pathic Pharmacy United States v. Hudson Products Co.

192 F.2d 62
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJuly 3, 1951
Docket12665
StatusPublished
Cited by56 cases

This text of 192 F.2d 62 (United States v. El-O-Pathic Pharmacy United States v. Hudson Products Co.) 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. El-O-Pathic Pharmacy United States v. Hudson Products Co., 192 F.2d 62 (9th Cir. 1951).

Opinion

McALLISTER, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from an order of the district court denying permanent injunctions in consolidated cases in which the government sought to restrain appellees from introducing certain allegedly misbranded drugs, known as hormones, into interstate commerce, and, further, to enjoin them from causing any acts to be done with respect to such drugs that would result in their being allegedly misbranded in intrastate commerce, in claimed violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, as amended, Title 21 U.S.C.A. § 301 et seq. 1

*65 The government’s complaint asking for injunctions in the district court thus specified two types of prohibited acts which it alleged appellees violated; and the circumstances giving rise to such complaint are as follows: It appears that the hormones in question are manufactured by pharmaceutical corporations in the eastern part of the United States and shipped to ap-pellees in California with labeling that states, in part, “Caution: To be dispensed only by or on the prescription of a physician.” Thereafter, the appellees relabel the drugs to eliminate this prescription statement; and the new labeling, it was claimed, caused the drugs to become mis-branded within the meaning of the statute. 21 U.S.C.A. § 352(a), (f)(1), (f)(2), (j). When appellees distributed these relabeled drugs in interstate commerce, it was alleged that they violated that section of the statute which prohibits the introduction'of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce, 21 U.S.C.A. § 331(a); and when they distributed such relabeled drugs in intrastate commerce, it was claimed that they violated that section of the statute which prohibits the doing of acts with respect to the labeling of drugs while they are held for sale after shipment, in interstate commerce, if such acts result in the drugs being mis-branded, 21 U.S.C.A. § 331 (k).

On appeal, the government contends that the hormones, introduced into interstate commerce, distributed, and sold by appel-lees, were misbranded, in violation of the statute, in that they did not bear adequate directions for use; that they were dangerous to health when taken as directed; and that they did not bear adequate warnings against use in those pathological conditions where their use might be dangerous to health; all in violation of the statute. Title 21 U.S.C.A. § 352(a), (f)(1), (f)(2), (j).

The district court held that the warnings on the cartons containing the drugs were sufficient in that they stated that the hormones were for use by adult males deficient in male hormone when small dosages are prescribed or recommended by a physician for palliative relief of such symptoms; that the maintenance dosage could be extended from three to six months under supervision of a physician; that before taking the hormone, a physician should be consulted, since the hormone would not aid or relieve symptoms not associated with male hormone deficiency; and that children and young adults must not use the hormone except under constant, direct supervision of a physician. Remarking that the government wanted the drugs in question to be sold only upon the prescription of a physician, the court concluded that the question as to what effects would follow from the administration of the drugs was in dispute; that the doctors could not agree on the subject; that the government had not sustained' the burden of proof; and the court, accordingly, dismissed the case.

*66 It is the claim of the government that it has sustained the burden of proving that the hormones in this case are inherently dangerous; that they are not safe and efficacious for use except under the supervision of a physician; that they are not suitable for self-medication, since a layman could not know when they should be used and when they should not be used; that adequate directions for unsupervised lay use can not be written; and that such drugs, if sold legally in interstate commerce, must be dispensed only upon prescription of a physician, in accordance with the regulations of the Federal Security Administrator 2 The government further contends that the proofs disclose that the drugs in question failed to bear adequate directions for use, in that they are offered to the public as efficacious remedies for many conditions which are not mentioned in the labeling or directions for use.

To these contentions, appellees reply that the statute in question is not susceptible of an interpretation that the Administrator, provided for therein, is empowered to determine what drugs may be sold only on prescription; that the labeling of appellees’ drugs bears adequate directions for use and warnings within the meaning of the statute; that the drugs are not dangerous to health, within the meaning of the statute; that the findings of the district court are sustained by substantial evidence; and that, since they are not clearly erroneous, they must be accepted on appeal, ánd the judgment affirmed. Rule 52(a), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A.

The evidence in the district court consisted of a stipulated written record. It comprised the pleadings, affidavits, and a transcript of proceedings in the trial of a criminal case in which appellees were found guilty by the district court, sitting without a jury, of the offense of distributing misbranded male and female sex hormone drugs. The convictions were, essentially, based upon the conclusions and findings of the district court that the hormones were dangerous to health and that the labeling claims which appellees therein made for their hormones were false and misleading. The district court stated, in the criminal case, that it was convinced, beyond a reasonable doubt, that indiscriminate distribution or dispensation for use of the hormones carried not only a potential but an actual danger of injury to some persons; that the leaflets and circulars enclosed in the packages by which deliveries of sales were made, were designed to create a belief that many persons were deficient in their natural testosterone, and that, by supplementing it with the drug called by various names, a synthetic testosterone, much benefit could be derived by the user; and that the court was convinced from the evidence that these drugs did not, other than within a restricted class of cases, produce many or any of the alleviatory and beneficial effects that the labeling given them by the defendants indicated, and encouraged readers to believe they would generally produce. Appellees did not file appeals in the criminal case, but paid the fines imposed upon them.

After the convictions in the criminal case, a different judge was assigned to try the injunction cases now before us. The evidence in these consolidated cases, here on review, consisted of the record in the prior criminal case. No additional witnesses were produced and no oral testimony was submitted. While giving due consideration to the trial court’s findings, to which they are justly entitled, and with reluctance to reverse them unless well persuaded, nevertheless, under such circumstances, they do not have the weight we would otherwise be obliged to concede to them, and the scope of review is de novo;

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Bluebook (online)
192 F.2d 62, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-el-o-pathic-pharmacy-united-states-v-hudson-products-co-ca9-1951.