United States et al. v. Rutherford et al.

Decided June 18, 1979. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 78-605 · 442 U.S. 544 (1979) · Cited 398 times

Holding

The Act makes no express exception for drugs used by the terminally ill and no implied exemption is necessary to attain congressional objectives or to avert an unreasonable reading of the terms "safe" and "effective" in 201(p)(1).

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“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.

• Weinberger v. Hynson, Westcott & Dunning, Inc. · 412 U.S. 609 (1973)
• Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill · 437 U.S. 153 (1978)
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. · 429 U.S. 252 (1977)
• Udall v. Tallman · 380 U.S. 1 (1965)
• Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 435 U.S. 519 (1978)
• United States v. American Trucking Associations · 310 U.S. 534 (1940)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Helvering v. Hallock · 309 U.S. 106 (1940)
• Zemel v. Rusk · 381 U.S. 1 (1965)
• Apex Hosiery Co. v. Leader · 310 U.S. 469 (1940)
• Toucey v. New York Life Insurance · 314 U.S. 118 (1941)
• Helvering v. Hammel · 311 U.S. 504 (1941)
• Anderson v. Wilson · 289 U.S. 20 (1933)
• United States v. Lexington Mill & Elevator Co. · 232 U.S. 399 (1914)
• Bayside Enterprises, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board · 429 U.S. 298 (1977)

Cited by

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

• CBS, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 453 U.S. 367 (1981)
• Food & Drug Administration v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. · 529 U.S. 120 (2000)
• Guardians Assn. v. Civil Serv. Comm'n of New York City · 463 U.S. 582 (1983)
• Morrison-Knudsen Construction Co. v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs · 461 U.S. 624 (1983)
• Dunn v. Commodity Futures Trading Commission · 519 U.S. 465 (1997)
• Washington v. Glucksberg · 521 U.S. 702 (1997)
• Alexander v. Choate · 469 U.S. 287 (1985)
• Gonzales v. Raich · 545 U.S. 1 (2005)
• United Steelworkers of America v. Weber · 443 U.S. 193 (1979)
• Bob Jones University v. United States · 461 U.S. 574 (1983)
• Aaron v. Securities & Exchange Commission · 446 U.S. 680 (1980)
• United States v. Riverside Bayview Homes, Inc. · 474 U.S. 121 (1985)
• North Haven Board of Education v. Bell · 456 U.S. 512 (1982)
• Stenberg v. Carhart · 530 U.S. 914 (2000)
• United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative · 532 U.S. 483 (2001)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1979). 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).