1037. Adulteration and misbranding of gauze bandages.    V. S. v. 10,000 Dozen
Packages of Gauze Bandages (and 8 otlier seizure actions against gauze (
bandages).   Consent decrees of condemnation.   Product ordered released '
under bond for reprocessing. (F. D. C. Nos. 9309, 9371, 9411, 9456, 9529,
9530, 9818, 9819, 10207, 12296. Sample Nos. 6769-F, 37407-F, 37578-F,
37579-F, 42403-F. 42404-F, 45722-F, 45727-F, 45766-F, 45785-F to 45787-F,
incl., 45822-F, 67812-F.)
Examination showed that this product was not sterile but was contaminated
with living micro-organisms.
Between February 4, 1943, and May 3, 1944, the United States attorneys
for the Eastern District of Virginia, the Western District of Washington, the
Eastern District of Missouri, and the Western District of Kentucky filed libels
against the following quantities of gauze bandages from 1 to 4 inches in width:
10,000 dozen packages, 6,900 packages, each containing 1 dozen, 120 cartons,
each containing 100 dozen, 217 cases, each containing 100 dozen, and 345 cases,
each containing 50 dozen, at Richmond, Va.; 621 dozen packages and 318
packages at Seattle, Wash.; 531 dozen packages at St. Louis, Mo.; and 25
cases, each containing 50 dozen, at Louisville, Ky. It was alleged that all
lots had been shipped within the period from on or about October 8, 1942, to
March 23, 1944, by the Marsales Company, Inc., from New York, N. Y., and
East Lyme, Niantic, Conn., with the exception of a portion of the Richmond
lot, which was alleged to have been shipped from San Antonio, Tex., by the
San Antonio Quartermaster Depot, and a portion of the Seattle lot, which was
alleged to have been shipped by the Indian Service Warehouse from St. Louis,
Mo.; and it was charged that the bandages were adulterated and misbranded.
Portions of the article were labeled in part: "Bandage [or "Bandages"] Gauze
Roller Plain Sterilized," or "Marco    Sterilized When Packed   Gauze Bandage."
The lot at Louisville was alleged to be adulterated in that its purity and
quality fell below that which it purported and was represented to possess,
"sterilized." The remaining lots were alleged to be adulterated in that they
purported to be and were represented as a drug, the name of which is recog-
nized in an official compendium, the United States Pharmacopoeia (twelfth re-
vision), but their quality and purity fell below the standard set forth in that
compendium since they were not sterile.
All lots were alleged to be misbranded in that the statements appearing in
their labeling which represented that they were sterile were false and mis-
leading.
Between March 1, 1943, and June 19, 1944, the Marsales Company, Inc.,
claimant, having consented to the entry of the decrees, judgments of condemna-
tion were entered and the product was ordered released under bond for re-
processing under the supervision of the Food and Drug Administration.