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Administrative Law Keyed to Breyer
Heckler v. Chaney
Citation:
470 U.S. 821, 105 S. Ct. 1649, 84 L. Ed. 2d 714 (1985)Facts
Several prison inmates sentenced to death by lethal injection petitioned the FDA, claiming that the drugs used for executions violated the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) because they were not approved for this purpose and constituted “misbranding.” They requested the FDA to take various enforcement actions, including requiring warning labels, sending statements to manufacturers and prison administrators, seizing the drugs from state prisons, and recommending prosecution. The FDA Commissioner refused to take action, stating that even if the FDA had jurisdiction, it would decline to exercise it under its inherent enforcement discretion. The Commissioner explained that enforcement proceedings in this area are typically initiated only when there is a serious danger to public health or a blatant scheme to defraud, which the FDA did not find present in state lethal injection laws. The inmates then filed suit in federal court, seeking judicial review of the FDA’s refusal under the Administrative Procedure Act.
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