Carbadox

A salesman of veterinary drugs was recently sentenced to three years probation and fined $1,000 plus a special assessment of $50 for covering up the sale of potent drugs to unauthorized purchasers.

Roger D. Howland, owner of Clear Lake Premix and Veterinary Supply, Clear Lake, Iowa, was sentenced on Aug. 19, 199 1, after pleading guilty on April 29 to one count of falsifying invoices related to the sales of an FDA-regulated product.

The invoices indicated that Howland had sold a vitamin supplement to three Iowa swine farmers, when actually he sold them Mecadox Medicated Premix10 (Carbadox), a drug approved by FDA to help swine digest feed more efficiently and to control dysentery and bacterial enteritis.

Mecadox is a potent drug, and residues in animal tissue pose a cancer risk in people who eat the meat. It is administered to swine by mixing it with the animals' feed. Because the drug is so potent and the mixing requires precise measurement, FDA requires that anyone who wants to use Mecadox, and other similar drugs, must hold an FDA-approved medicated feed application.

Howland's three customers didn't have approved applications.

The trail to Howland began with one of his customers, Kevin D. Thompson, a farmer in Forest City, Iowa. In April 1988, inspectors with the U.S. Department of Agriculture found illegal residues of the drug sulfamethazine in a hog Thompson had brought to slaughter. USDA notified FDA's Des Moines resident inspection post, and on May 17, FDA investigator Michael Verdi went to Thompson's farm.

No one answered the door at the farmhouse, but while waiting for Thompson to show up at the farm, Verdi saw two bags of Mecadox in an open shed. Verdi waited for Thompson for two hours, then left.

When Verdi returned to Thompson's farm on May 24, the Mecadox was gone, and Thompson denied having any.

"Mr. Thompson's story changed, however, when I told him I had seen Mecadox on his farm on May 17," says Verdi. "He admitted he had moved the bags to his father's farm next door."

In a signed affidavit, Thompson confirmed that he had purchased Carbadox from Howland three times in 1988 and that he knew the sales were illegal because he did not hold an approved medicated feed application. He also confirmed that Howland had falsified invoices to cover up the illegal sales.

On June 1, Verdi met with Howland and found records that confirmed Thompson's 1988 purchases of Mecadox, as well as two other sales of the drug to Roger Pringnitz and his brother Gordon, both of Gamer, Iowa. Howland had concealed all five sales with invoices that indicated he had sold the vitamin supplement "ADE." Howland admitted in a signed affidavit that he knew that none of the farmers were legally eligible to buy the Carbadox.

FDA'S Kansas City district office issued a Notice of Hearing to Howland on April 21, 1989, which outlined his violations of federal law and requested that he meet with FDA officials on May 18. Howland did not respond to the notice or attend the meeting.

Another letter was sent on May 22.

On June 5, Howland's attorney told FDA in a letter that Howland had no further information to give the agency and that he had closed his business immediately after the inspection.

On June 15, 1990, FDA requested that the U.S. Department of Justice initiate criminal proceedings against Howland. Negotiations between the Department of Justice, Howland, and Howland's attorney resulted in Howland's April 1991 plea.

Howland's sentence includes detention in his home-he can't leave his house except for work, medical appointments, and regularly scheduled religious services-for the first six months of probation. The sentence also prohibits him from selling Mecadox while on probation.

In addition to Howland's guilty plea, the Department of Justice reached plea agreements with Thompson, Roger Pringnitz, and Gordon Pringnitz on Sept. 4, 1991. All three agreed to plead guilty to one count of illegally purchasing veterinary drugs. Thompson also agreed to plead guilty to a second count of illegal use of sulfamethazine. At press time, the three had not yet been sentenced.

Dori Stehlin is a staff writer for FDA Consumer.

COPYRIGHT 1992 U.S. Government Printing Office
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