796. Adulteration and misbranding of Blue Gross First Aid Kits. V. S. v. 83%
Dozen Blue Cross First Aid Kits. Consent decree of condemnation. Prod-
uct ordered released under bond for reconditioning: and relabeling.     (P.
D. C. No. 7067.    Sample No. 59769-E.)
The absorbent cotton in these first aid kits was contaminated with viable
micro-organisms; and the outside container of the kits failed to bear statements
of the quantity of the contents and of the quantity or proportion of the mer-
cury derivative (mercurochrome) contained in one of xthe items, i. e., the
bottle of mercurochrome solution.
On March 19, 1942, the United States attorney for the District of Maryland
filed a libel against the above-named product at Baltimore, Md., alleging that
it had been shipped in interstate commerce on or about February 16, 1942, from
Philadelphia, Pa., by Sol Levy; and charging that it was adulterated and mis-
branded. The article was labeled in part: "Blue Cross First Aid Kit, Hampton
Manufacturing Co., Carlstadt, New Jersey."
It was alleged in the libel that the cotton contained in the kits was adulter-
ated in that it purported to be, and was represented as a drug the name of
which is recognized in the Second Supplement to the Eleventh Revision of the
United States Pharmacopoeia, which specifies among other things, that ab-
sorbent cotton must be sterile, but its quality or purity fell below the standard
set forth in that compendium since it was not sterile but was contaminated with
viable aerobic and anaerobic or facultative anaerobic micro-organisms.
The kits were alleged to be misbranded (1) in that the statement "First Aid
Kit," borne on the cover of the kits, was false and misleading when applied to
an article which was not sterile but was contaminated with viable micro-
organisms ; (2) in that the outside container did not bear an accurate statement
of the quantity of the contents; and (3) in that the outside container did not
bear a statement of the quantity or proportion of mercurochrome, a mercury
derivative contained in the bottle of mercurochrome solution.
On June 17, 1942, the Hampton Manufacturing Co., Carlstadt, N. J., claimant,
having admitted the allegations of the libel, judgment of condemnation was
entered and the product was ordered released under bond for reconditioning by
removal and destruction of the nonsterile cotton and proper relabeling of the
kits under the supervision of the Food and Drug Administration.