Weinberger, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, et al. v. Bentex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., et al.

Decided June 18, 1973. William Orville Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 72-555 · 412 U.S. 645 (1973) · Cited 167 times

Holding

The District Court's referral of the 'new drug' and 'grandfather' issues to FDA was proper.

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 7–0.

“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.

• Ricci v. Chicago Mercantile Exchange · 409 U.S. 289 (1973)
• Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner · 387 U.S. 136 (1967)
• Myers v. Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. · 303 U.S. 41 (1938)
• Permian Basin Area Rate Cases · 390 U.S. 747 (1968)
• Far East Conference v. United States · 342 U.S. 570 (1952)
• Port of Boston Marine Terminal Assn. v. Rederiaktiebolaget Transatlantic · 400 U.S. 62 (1970)
• Federal Power Commission v. Louisiana Power & Light Co. · 406 U.S. 621 (1972)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1973). 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).