New digital collection: FDA Food and Drug Notices of Judgment 1908-1934

The Archives and Modern Manuscripts Program at the History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine is pleased to announce the second release of additional court case summaries published as the Food and Drugs Act Notices of Judgment (NJs) (http://archive.nlm.nih.gov/fdanj/).

These NJs cover the first case published in 1908 through February 1934 (20,629 cases). These cases include both adulterated and misbranded foods and drugs. We will periodically add more NJs to complete this Combined Foods and Drugs category which existed through 1943. The FDA Notices of Judgment online collection already holds cases for the Drugs and Devices category, dated 1940-1963 and for Cosmetics, dated 1940-1964.

This collection is a digital archive of the notices judgment for products seized under authority of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and the 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The NJs are resources in themselves, but also lead users to the over 2,000 linear foot collection of the evidence files used to prosecute each case. These files include materials such as correspondence, lab results, photographs, and product samples and labeling. This collection offers insight into U.S. legal and governmental history, as well as the evolution of clinical trial science and the social impact of medicine on health. The legal history of some of our best-known consumer items of today, such as Coca Cola, and companies like Merck Pharmaceuticals, can be traced in the collection.

Users can perform full-text searching and browse the archive by Case Title, Defendant Name, Adjudicating Court Name, Geographic Seizure Location, and Case Publication Date.

For more information, please contact John P. Rees, Archivist and Digital Resources Manager, Archives and Modern Manuscripts Program, at reesj@nlm.nih.gov