24687. Misbranding of  Chlorine  Respirine.    U.   S.  v.   53  Dozen  Packages   of
Chlorine Respirine.    Default decree of condemnation and destruction.
(F. & D. no. 35062.    Sample no. 11896-B.)
This case involved a drug preparation the labeling of which contained 
unwarranted curative and therapeutic claims. The labeling was further objec- 
tionable since the article was represented to contain available chlorine, 
whereas it contained no available chlorine.
On February 16,1935, the United States attorney for the District of Colorado, 
acting upon a report by the Secretary of Agriculture, filed in the district court 
a libel praying seizure and condemnation of 53 dozen packages of Chlorine 
Respirine at Denver, Colo., consigned by the Chlorine Respirine Co., Chicago, 
111., alleging that the article had been shipped in interstate commerce from 
the State of Illinois into the State of Colorado in various shipments between 
the dates of January 1 and March 12, 1925, and charging misbranding in 
violation of the Food and Drugs Act as amended.
Analysis showed that the article consisted essentially of calcium compounds 
incorporated in petrolatum, and that it contained no available chlorine.
The article was alleged to be misbranded in that the following statements 
in the labeling were false and misleading, since the article contained no 
available chlorine:  (Carton) "Chlorine   *   *    *    Chlorine Respirine liberates
pure Chlorine gas"; (circular contained in some of the packages) "(Liberates 
free Chlorine) * * * containing chlorine gas * * * The Chlorine 
Products Company has been testing various means of producing chlorine for 
this treatment in a convenient and safe form so that everybody may have 
this treatment without going to hospitals or other expensive places where 
special equipment is used. We now offer to you Respirine in an ointment 
base which when applied as a cream to the entrance of each nostril will 
liberate the chlorine gas"; (tube label) "Liberates Free Chlorine." Mis- 
branding was alleged for the further reason that the following statements re- 
garding the curative and therapeutic effects of the article, were false and 
fraudulent: (Carton) "Genuine Chlorine Treatment * * * the most effec- 
tive agent for treating * * * bronchitis, laryngitis, whooping cough, in- 
fluenza, etc., and other respiratory diseases in which the infection is on the 
surface of the mucous membrane"; (tube label) "Chlorine Treatment * * * 
Preventative After exposure to surface respiratory infections use Respirine' 
as a preventative"; (circular in some of the packages) "The 'chlorine' treat- 
ment for * * * bronchitis, whooping cough, influenza and all respiratory 
infections where the infective organism is on the surface of the mucous 
membrane. * * * The development of this gas treatment is an outcome 
of the late World War. During the war it was observed that employees 
in the chlorine departments of the chemical divisions were free from all of 
the above respiratory infections, and from these observations extensive experi- 
ments were carried on with remarkably beneficial and curative results. 
Veedor & Sawyer Jour. A. M. A. Vol. 82, pages 764-766, Mar. 8, 1924. Report 
931 patients treated for respiratory infections and after one hour treatment 
with chlorine gas 665 cases were cured, 218 improved and only 48 showed 
no change. Government officials including the President and hundreds of gov- 
ernment employees have been successfully treated by this modern method. 
* * * it will be breathed over the mucous membrane and into the lungs, 
thereby subjecting every infected membrane over which the air passes to the 
effects of this remedial and healing gaseous dilution. With Respirine the 
chlorine treatment * * * Colds and their complications are the cause 
of untold loss, suffering and death, hence it is very hard to over estimate 
the value of such beneficial remedial agent as Respirine, which will largely 
overcome such infectious conditions. The use of chlorine gas in the success- 
ful treatment of President Coolidge, Senators, Congressmen, Cabinet officers 
and hundreds of government employees in Washington, D. C, has so pro- 
foundly impressed the medical profession that its use is becoming general 
and universally accepted. * * * If you have a respiratory infection, i. e., 
cold, coryza, laryngitis, bronchitis, pharyngitis, whooping cough or influenza, 
use Respirine. * * * As A Preventative Agent Against Surface Respiratory 
Infections. * * * after attending the theatre, show, school or being in a 
crowded car or crowd of any kind. Also after you have been in the presence 
of persons afflicted with a cold or surface respiratory infection of any kind"; 
(circular in other packages) "It is also an effective treatment for bronchitis, 
whooping cough, and all respiratory ailments due to bacterial infections on 
the surface of the mucous membranes. * * * The fact that chlorine gas 
has been used in the successful treatment of President Coolidge, Senators, 
Congressmen, Cabinet Officials, and hundreds of government and army em- 
ployees in Washington, is the highest testimony of the value of chlorine gas 
in treating respiratory infections, i. e., colds, coryza, laryngitis, bronchitis, 
whooping cough or pharyngitis."
On April 13, 1935, no claimant having appeared, judgment of condemnation 
was entered and it was ordered that the product be destroyed.
W. R. GBEGG, Actinff Secretary of Agriculture.