Hugo Black

“ Under the latter he is given no power to exempt on the ground that compliance is impracticable. He cannot weigh business convenience against protection of the public health. Only where he finds that labeling is not necessary to that protection is he authorized to create an exemption for drugs and devices. Health security is not only the first, it is the exclusive, criterion. ”

“ As bearing upon the appropriate answer to this question, it cannot be that a transfer from a jar, the bulk container, to a small paper bag, without transferring the label of the jar to the paper bag, is 'any other act' when applied to a drug, but not 'any other act' when applied to candies or cosmetics. Before we reach the possible discretion that may be exercised in prosecuting a certain conduct, it must be determined whether there is anything to prosecute. ”

“ The scope of the offense which Congress defined is not to be judicially narrowed as applied to drugs by envisioning extreme possible applications of its different misbranding provisions which relate to food, cosmetics, and the like. There will be opportunity enough to consider such contingencies should they ever arise. ”

“ A restrictive interpretation should not be given a statute merely because Congress has chosen to depart from custom or because giving effect to the express language employed by Congress might require a court to face a constitutional question. ”

“ Any dealer holding drugs for sale after shipment in interstate commerce could avoid the statute's effect simply by leaving the label intact, removing the contents from the bulk container, and selling them, however deadly, in broken parcels without label or warning. ”

“ It is said that we must either (1) ignore Congress' obvious intention to protect ultimate consumers of drugs through labeling requirements literally and plainly made applicable to the sales in this case or (2) make criminal every corner grocer who takes a stick of candy from a properly labeled container and sells it to a child without wrapping it in a similar label.
The trouble-making factor is not found in the statute's provisions relating specifically to drugs. ”

“ He held the drugs for sale after they had been shipped in interstate commerce from Chicago to Atlanta. It is true that respondent bought them over six months after the interstate shipment had been completed by their delivery to another consignee. But the language used by Congress broadly and unqualifiedly prohibits misbranding articles held for sale after shipment in interstate commerce, without regard to how long after the shipment the misbranding occurred, how many intrastate sales had intervened, or who had received the articles at the end of the interstate shipment. ”

“ Its purpose was to safeguard the consumer by applying the Act to articles from the moment of their introduction into interstate commerce all the way to the moment of their delivery to the ultimate consumer. Section 301 (a) forbids the 'introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce' of misbranded or adulterated drugs; § 301 (b) forbids the misbranding or adulteration of drugs while 'in interstate commerce' ”

“ It may now be noted, however, that the Administrator of the Act is given rather broad discretion-broad enough undoubtedly to enable him to perform his duties fairly without wasting his efforts on what may be no more than technical infractions of law. ”

“ We hold that § 301 (k) prohibits the misbranding h arged in the information.
Fifth. It is contended that the Act as we have construed it is beyond any authority granted Congress by the Constitution and that it invades the powers reserved to the States. A similar challenge was made against the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, 34 Stat. ”

“ The following appeared on the label of the bottles as a compliance with § 502 (f) (2) which requires warnings of danger: 'Warning.-In some individuals Sulfathiazole may cause severe toxic reactions. Daily blood counts for evidence of anemia or leukopenia and urine examinations for hematuria are recommended.↑ H.Rep. ”