Opinion ID: 852757
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Heading: Drug Labels as Hearsay

Text: Hearsay is an out-of-court statement made by someone other than the declarant and offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. Ind. R. Evid. 801(c). The labels on the boxes were offered to prove the contents of the drugs, and thus were inadmissible hearsay unless some exception applies. The trial court found the labels on the nasal decongestant boxes to be hearsay but admitted them under the Market Reports, Commercial Publications exception. Ind. R. Evid. 803(17). That exception permits admission into evidence of market quotations, tabulations, lists, directories, or other published compilations, generally used and relied upon by the public or by persons in particular occupations. As we observed in Hammon v. State, 829 N.E.2d 444, 448 (Ind.2005), the Indiana Rules of Evidence do not have a counterpart to the residual hearsay exception found in Federal Rule of Evidence 807 and its counterparts in several other jurisdictions. This residual exception allows hearsay not specifically admissible under one of the listed exceptions found in Rules 803 and 804 if it has `equivalent circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness' and (A) `is offered as evidence of a material fact;' (B) `is more probative on the point for which it is offered than any other evidence which the proponent can procure through reasonable efforts;' and (C) `the general purposes of these rules and the interests of justice will best be served by admission of the statement into evidence.' Hammon, 829 N.E.2d at 448 (quoting Fed. Evid. R. 807). The proponent of the statement must provide sufficient notice to the adverse party before the statement can be used in a trial or hearing. Fed. Evid. R. 807. Drug labels would meet this test, given that they are regulated under both federal and state law and are relied upon by physicians, patients, and others to describe accurately the chemical makeup of a commercially marketed pharmaceutical, whether over-the-counter or prescription. See, e.g., Wirth v. State, 55 Wis.2d 11, 197 N.W.2d 731, 733 (1972) (label on a prepackaged sealed bottle of codeine-type cough syrup was admissible because of the probability of accuracy and trustworthiness of [the] statement). Indiana does not have a residual hearsay exception, and the state offered the labels on the boxes under the market reports exception. Whether the labels of commercially marketed drugs come within the market reports or any other exception to the general rule against hearsay is a matter of first impression in Indiana. [5] Two other states have found drug labels admissible under the market reports exception to the hearsay rule. See Burchfield v. State, 892 So.2d 191, 199 (Miss.2004) (Mississippi does not have a residual exception. Label on drug box was admissible under the market reports exception); State v. Heuser, 661 N.W.2d 157, 165 (Iowa 2003) (Label from cold medicine box was offered under both the residual and market reports exceptions. The state did not meet the residual exception's notice requirements, but the court admitted the label under the market reports exception). The market reports description of admissible items as market quotations, tabulations, lists, directories, or other published compilations suggests that the exception exists only for compilations. It has however been held to support admission of other published materials where they are generally relied upon either by the public or by people in a particular occupation. [6] In the instant case, labeling of the tablets found in Reemer's possession was subject to federal and state law. A false or misleading label violates federal law. See 21 U.S.C. § 352 (1999). The Indiana Drug, Device, and Cosmetic Act regulates drugs introduced into commerce in this state. Like its federal counterpart, it also specifically prohibits the introduction into commerce of any drug that is mislabeled. See I.C. § 16-42-3-4. The applicable federal and state regulations require that drug labels be accurate and trustworthy. As the Iowa Supreme Court observed, the contemporary nature of pharmaceutical practice exemplifies the inherent trustworthiness of the labels on cold medication. Heuser, 661 N.W.2d at 164. Indeed, physicians, patients and the general public routinely rely on regulated manufacturing practices and mandatory labeling to assure that pharmaceuticals are as they are represented to be. [7] We conclude that labels of commercially marketed drugs are properly admitted into evidence under the exception provided by Evidence Rule 803(17) to prove the composition of the drug. Reemer does not contest the conclusion that the empty boxes found in the trashcan originally contained the unopened blister packs that were in his possession. Although the loose blister packs were not in their original boxes, the boxes clearly indicated that each pack contained 24 tablets, containing pseudoephedrine hydrochloride. The fact that the tablets were in the original unbroken blister packs is sufficient to establish that the contents remained as the manufacturer packaged them. The labels clearly listed pseudoephedrine hydrochloride as one of the active ingredients in each tablet. The trial court properly admitted the nasal decongestant labels into evidence as proof of the contents, and therefore the blister packs in Reemer's possession contained pseudoephedrine hydrochloride.