Abbott Laboratories et al. v. Gardner, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, et al.

Decided May 22, 1967. John Marshall Harlan delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 39 · 387 U.S. 136 (1967) · Cited 6,135 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Ewing v. Mytinger & Casselberry, Inc. · 339 U.S. 594 (1950)
• Frozen Food Express v. United States · 351 U.S. 40 (1956)
• Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. United States · 316 U.S. 407 (1942)
• Massachusetts v. Mellon · 262 U.S. 447 (1923)
• Perkins v. Lukens Steel Co. · 310 U.S. 113 (1940)
• United States v. Storer Broadcasting Co. · 351 U.S. 192 (1956)
• Heikkila v. Barber · 345 U.S. 229 (1953)
• Rusk v. Cort · 369 U.S. 367 (1962)
• Brownell v. Tom We Shung · 352 U.S. 180 (1956)
• Brillhart v. Excess Insurance Co. of America · 316 U.S. 491 (1942)
• Leedom v. Kyne · 358 U.S. 184 (1958)
• Scripps-Howard Radio, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 316 U.S. 4 (1942)
• Mishkin v. New York · 383 U.S. 502 (1966)
• Stark v. Wickard · 321 U.S. 288 (1944)
• Southern Pacific Co. v. Bogert · 250 U.S. 483 (1919)
• Shaughnessy v. Pedreiro · 349 U.S. 48 (1955)
• Harmon v. Brucker · 355 U.S. 579 (1958)
• United States v. Interstate Commerce Commission · 337 U.S. 426 (1949)
• Shields v. Utah Idaho Central Railroad · 305 U.S. 177 (1938)
• American Life Insurance v. Stewart · 300 U.S. 203 (1937)
• Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System v. Agnew · 329 U.S. 441 (1947)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Shalala v. Illinois Council on Long Term Care, Inc. · 529 U.S. 1 (2000)
• Reno v. Catholic Social Services, Inc. · 509 U.S. 43 (1993)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Standard Oil Co. · 449 U.S. 232 (1980)
• National Park Hospitality Association v. Department of the Interior · 538 U.S. 803 (2003)
• Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Barr · 589 U.S. 221 (2020)
• U.S. Army Corps of Eng'rs v. Hawkes Co. · 578 U.S. 590 (2016)
• Heckler v. Chaney · 470 U.S. 821 (1985)
• Ohio Forestry Assn., Inc. v. Sierra Club · 523 U.S. 726 (1998)
• Suitum v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency · 520 U.S. 725 (1997)
• Morris v. Gressette · 432 U.S. 491 (1977)
• Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors · 603 U.S. 799 (2024)
• MedImmune, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc. · 549 U.S. 118 (2007)
• The Toilet Goods Association, Inc. v. John w.ga Rdner, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare · 387 U.S. 158 (1967)
• Thunder Basin Coal Co. v. Reich · 510 U.S. 200 (1994)
• Barlow v. Collins · 397 U.S. 159 (1970)
• Bowen v. Michigan Academy of Family Physicians · 476 U.S. 667 (1986)
• Franklin v. Massachusetts · 505 U.S. 788 (1992)
• Gutierrez De Martinez v. Lamagno · 515 U.S. 417 (1995)
• Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. State Energy Resources Conservation & Development Commission · 461 U.S. 190 (1983)
• Thomas v. Union Carbide Agricultural Products Co. · 473 U.S. 568 (1985)
• Kisor v. Wilkie · 588 U.S. 558 (2019)
• Department of Commerce v. New York · 588 U.S. 752 (2019)
• Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. · 572 U.S. 663 (2014)
• Harrison v. PPG Industries, Inc. · 446 U.S. 578 (1980)
• Bell v. New Jersey · 461 U.S. 773 (1983)
• Medtronic, Inc. v. Mirowski Family Ventures, LLC. · 571 U.S. 191 (2014)
• Weyerhaeuser Co. v. United States Fish and Wildlife Serv. · 586 U.S. 9 (2018)
• PDR Network, LLC v. Carlton Harris Chiropractic, Inc. · 588 U.S. 1 (2019)
• Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation · 497 U.S. 871 (1990)
• Verizon Maryland Inc. v. Public Service Commission of Maryland · 535 U.S. 635 (2002)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).