United States v. Dotterweich

This was a prosecution begun by two informations, consolidated for trial, charging Buffalo Pharmacal Company, Inc., and Dotterweich, its president and general manager, with violations of the Act of Congress of June 25, 1938, c. 675, 52 Stat. 1040, 21 U.S.C. §§ 301-392, known as the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The Company, a jobber in drugs, purchased them from their manufacturers and shipped them, repacked under its own label, in interstate commerce. (No question is raised in this case regarding the implications that may properly arise when, although the manufacturer gives the jobber a guaranty, the latter, through his own label, makes representations.) The informations were based on § 301 of that Act, 21 U.S.C. § 331, paragraph (a) of which prohibits "[t]he introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of any . . . drug . . . that is adulterated or misbranded." "Any person" violating this provision is, by paragraph (a) of § 303, 21 U.S.C. § 333, made "guilty of a misdemeanor." Three counts went to the jury -- two, for shipping misbranded drugs in interstate commerce and a third for so shipping an adulterated drug. The jury disagreed as to the corporation, and found Dotterweich guilty on all three counts. We start with the finding of the Circuit Court of Appeals that the evidence was adequate to support the verdict of adulteration and misbranding. 131 F.2d 500, 502.