29272. Misbranding of Dexene. IT. S. v. Sanovapor Laboratories, Inc., Gordon A. 
Guthrie, and Ethelbert Kennedy Walker. Plea of guilty by Gordon A. 
Guthrie. Fine, $50. Nolle prosequi entered as to remaining defend- 
ants.    (F. & D. No. 37036.   Sample No. 49135-B.)
The labeling of this product bore a device and representations regarding its 
curative and therapeutic effects that were false and fraudulent.
On June 18, 1936, the United States attorney for the Southern District of 
West Virginia, acting upon a report by the Secretary of Agriculture, filed in 
the district court an information against the Sanovapor Laboratories, Inc., 
Huntington, W. Va., Gordon A. Guthrie, and Ethelbert Kennedy Walker, alleg- 
ing shipment by said defendants in violation of the Food and Drugs Act as 
amended, on or about September 6, 1935, from the State of West Virginia into 
the State of Kansas, of a quantity of Dexene that was misbranded. On July 
14, 1937, an amended information was filed. The article was labeled in part: 
"Dexene * * * Prepared by the Sanovapor Laboratories, Inc. Laboratories 
Huntington, W. Va.   Akron, Ohio." 
*   •
Analysis of the product showed that it consisted of a yellow aqueous solution 
containing 0.24 percent of sulphur dioxide.
The amended information alleged that the word "Dexene," borne on the bot- 
tles and on the carton, was a device regarding the curative and therapeutic 
effect of the article in that the word "Dexene" meant to purchasers that it 
was a remedy for diabetes, the word having attained such meaning through 
long existing general knowledge, the result of the following facts:
1. An application that the word "Dexene" be designated as a trade mark 
for a remedy for diabetes was duly filed in the United States Patent Office on 
April 29, 1931, under serial No. 313976 and said name "Dexene" was registered 
in accordance therewith on September 1, 1931, as a trade name for "A prepara- 
tion Used In The Treatment of Diabetes."
2. That subsequent to the registration of the word "Dexene" and on Septem- 
ber 1, 1931, the article was marked and branded as was the shipment involved 
in this case, and there was enclosed in the cartons containing the bottles a 
circular or booklet describing the product Dexene as a treatment, remedy, 
and cure for the disease diabetes, which booklet was shipped from time to time 
in interstate commerce; so that prospective purchasers and the public in general 
acquired general knowledge that the product Dexene was offered as a treat- 
ment, remedy, or cure for diabetes—although said booklet was not contained 
in the carton in which the article or drugs involved in this case was enclosed— 
the said booklet containing the following statements as to the curative and 
therapeutic value of the article: "The medicinal or therapeutic value of 
Dexene in Diabetes Mellitus will be readily understood by those affected with 
the disease, and particularly by the profession who will view with interest the
marked improvements as shown in the laboratory tests of both the blood and 
urine of the cases cited."
3. That the article when shipped and delivered for shipment was offered as 
a cure, remedy, or treatment for diabetes, both independently and further in 
conjunction with the difit recommended on the label of the bottle and the carton, 
which said diet is commonly known to the layman as being restricted to and 
prescribed exclusively in the treatment of diabetes.
That the article was misbranded in that the statements, designs, and devices 
aforesaid falsely and fraudulently represented the curative and therapeutic 
effectiveness of the article as a treatment, remedy, or cure for diabetes.
On October 19, 1937, a nolle prosequi was entered with respect to the Sano- 
vapor Laboratories, Inc., and Ethelbert Kennedy Walker. On November 1, 1937, 
a plea of guilty was entered by defendant Gordon A. Guthrie, and the court 
imposed a fine of $50.
M. L. WILSON, Acting Secretary of Agriculture.