Woodard Laborabories, Inc. v. United States

This is an appeal from judgments of conviction on an information charging appellants with violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C.A. § 301 et seq. Appellant Woodard. Laboratories packaged and shipped in interstate commerce certain drugs manufactured by Crest Laboratories. Appellants Murphy and Sullivan are, respectively, president and general manager of Woodard Laboratories. The information charged the appellants in ten counts with five interstate shipments of alpha-estradiol tablets whose strength was below that' declared on the labels; each shipment was the basis for two counts, one relating to adulteration and one to mis-branding. 21 U.S.C.A. §§ 331 (a), 351(c), and 352(a). The, District Court, sitting without a jury, found each of the defendants guilty on the five counts relating to adulteration. A total fine of $2500 was imposed upon Woodard and a total fine of $250 was imposed on each of the individual defendants.

The tablets in question are shipped under the trade name “Estrocrine” and contain alpha-estradiol, a female sex hormone which is dispensed only by or on the prescription of a physician. Samples of the tablets were subjected to laboratory…