100. Misbranding of   Myasthene  Tablets.    TT.  S. v.  102  Bottles  of  Myasthene
Tablets.    Default  decree   of  condemnation   and  destruction.     (F.   D.   C.
No. 660.    Sample Nos. 47734-D, 47735-D, 47736-D.)
The labeling of this product bore false and misleading representations re-
garding its efficacy in the conditions indicated below.
On September 29, 1939, the United States attorney for the District of
Columbia filed a libel against 102 bottles of Myasthene Tablets at Washington,
D. O., alleging that the article had been shipped in interstate commerce on or
about September 2, 1939, by the Medicinal Specialties Co. from New York,
N. Y.; and charging that it was misbranded.
Analysis showed that the tablets each contained 7.2 grains of aminoacetio
acid (glycocoll).
The article was alleged to be misbranded in that its labeling bore repre-
sentations that it was efficacious for "that tired feeling"; that it consisted of
glycocoll, an unusually effective compound for increasing the energy and vigor
of the tired individual; that it was intended especially for chronic tiredness
and easy fatigability known as myasthenia mitis which translated means
"mild muscular weakness"; that phospho-creatine must be present in sufficient
quantity in the muscles in order to provide energy for muscular action and
that if it is deficient in quantity the amount of work or energy is below par,
there is lack of physical vigor, energy, stamina, endurance, and of a normal
capacity to work and enjoy life in the fullest; that the article would increase
the amount of phosphocreatine in muscles and by doing so would increase the
amount of effort which a person could exert by as much as 200 percent or
more; that it would be valuable in other bothersome conditions such as under-
weight or weight loss in children, loss of appetite and certain types of nervous-
ness; that its value had been proved by research workers, clinical tests, and
famous physicians, which representations and others of like import in the
labeling, together with a design of a tired girl and a contrasting figure of a
vivacious girl, also of a tired man and a contrasting figure of an energetic
man, with accompanying representations that the article had produced the
improvement, were false and misleading in that the article was not efficacious
for the purposes recommended.
On November 21, 1939, no claimant having appeared, judgment of condemna-
tion was entered and the product was ordered destroyed.
DRUGS SOLD FOR BOTH HUMAN AND VETERINARY USE