Opinion ID: 1476714
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Facts.(a) Indoform

Text: It was stipulated as to Counts I and II that a number of vials of Indoform were shipped by the appellants on or about September 17, 1945, from Pasadena, California, to Dr. Joseph C. Bunten, Cheyenne, Wyoming. One vial was picked up as a sample by Ralph M. Davidson, a Federal Food and Drug Inspector, on or about January 24, 1946, from Dr. Bunten, and was sealed and mailed to the Food and Drug Administration at Washington, D. C., hereinafter referred to as the Administration. The vials carried labels announcing that each cubic centimeter of the drug contained three International Units of posterior pituitary and one grain of thyroid substance. On February 18, 1946, Arnold E. Mason, at that time employed by the Administration as pharmacologist and analyst, examined the contents of the sample vial. He testified that he found practically no posterior pituitary in that product, an almost immeasurable quantity. After conducting the test, Mason replaced the bottle into a locked refrigerator until the next day, when he wrapped it and put a seal on it. The vial was sent to San Francisco, according to his testimony. Mason was asked hypothetical questions, objected to by the appellant, as to whether the drug had contained three international units on the date of shipment, September 17, 1945. The questions assumed that the product had not been exposed to the destructive temperature of 212 degrees, had been handled in a normal and careful manner, and had been tested as Mason had already stated on the stand. Mason answered that it was his opinion that on the date in question there was a quantity of posterior pituitary which was not measurable by the standard methods of measuring it, or there was none. On March 27, 1946, Andrew G. Buell, a chemist for the Administration, stationed at San Francisco, broke Mason's seal on the paper wrapper around the vial and examined the product for thyroid content. He testified that There was no thyroid present whatsoever. After he made his examination, he immediately put his seal on the bottle. The seal was dated March 28, the day after he examined the contents.