Massengill Settles Death Claims; Cited to Appear in Federal Courts

By mid-December 1937, the S. E. Massengill Company had made out-of-court settlements in "about a dozen" cases of elixir-related deaths. Massengill's Kansas City attorney, Ruby D. Garrett, reported that the company intended to dispose of all claims that it regarded as justified before they could make it to court. He added that the company, which was solely owned by Dr. Massengill, had no insurance to cover death claims resulting from the use of its products. The firm's assets consisted solely of its drugs, some real estate, and its income-raising sales force, the attorney stated [1].

Garrett stressed that settlements would continue "purely on a basis of good faith," but that "we will continue to deny all liability and responsibility for deaths of persons whose relatives claim they took the sulfanilamide compound" [2]. However, he also stated that "a number" of claims were unjustified: some were presented by survivors whose relatives did not even consume Elixir Sulfanilamide; in other cases, the decedent would have died anyway, he proposed. Garrett provided an anecdotal example to the Tulsa Daily World:

Several doctors told me and my investigators that deaths had been attributed to sulfanilamide erroneously, due to the widespread publicity regarding the fatal cases...One woman took an elixir which she thought was sulfanilamide because she developed all the symptoms of sulfanilamide poisoning. Later it was found that she had taken a harmless cough medicine and she had recovered.

In no case, Garrett publicly declared, could Massengill's product be conclusively proved as the cause of death. Claimants would probably receive greater financial compensation by settling, he argued. Bad publicity from the elixir-related deaths would result in reduced income for the company, which would limit the firm's ability to pay off high-dollar court rulings.

The following elixir-related settlements were publicized in contemporary news reports:

Matilda Schroeder, widow of William M. Schroeder of St. Louis, received $2000 [3].

Thomas M. Hobson, father of 8-year-old Kathleen Hobson of Tulsa, received $1000 [4].

Mrs. Maise Nidiffer, mother of 6-year-old Joan Marlar of Tulsa, received $1250 [4].

The parents of 5-year-old George Nixon, of East St. Louis, received $1000 [1].

The parents of 4-year-old Maurice Slaughter, of East St. Louis, received $1000 [1].

The family of Alexander A. Brooks, 70, of East St. Louis, received $1000 [1].

Ellis Black, the husband of Gertrude L. Black, 38, of East St. Louis, received $1500 [1].

The family of Joseph L. Henry, 60, of East St. Louis, received $1500 [1].

In 2 unidentified cases in Mississippi, settlements were made for less than $300 each [5].

Addie Kyte, widow of 38-year-old William A. Kyte, of Knoxville, Tennessee, settled for an unknown amount [6].

Other claims against Massengill, which may or may not have been settled, are listed:

Mayme Welch Miller, wife of Charles W. Miller, 25, of Memphis, TN, asked for $50,000 in damages [7].

As a prelude to lawsuits, a Tulsa court appointed administrators in the cases of Millard O. Wakeford, father of 5-year-old Millard Wesley Wakeford ($6000 claim); George P. Sheehan, father of 6-year-old Michael S. Sheehan ($6000 claim); J. M. Sumner (of Leonard, OK), father of 2-year-old Robert "Bobby" Sumner ($6000 claim); and Mrs. Norris T. Beard (of Oklahoma City), mother of Earl L. Beard, 25 (undesignated amount) [8,9].

The wife of Willie Badger (25?) of Scotia, SC, was represented by a Hampton attorney, according to FDA letters [10,11].

The father of Edward (B. E.) Walker, Charles D. Walker of Enterprise, AL, was represented by a Montgomery attorney, according to FDA correspondence [12]. 

On December 15, 1937, simultaneous citations were issued in Kansas City, KS, Cincinnati, OH, and New York City for Massengill to appear before FDA officials on Monday, December 20, and show why the agency's information on the elixir-related deaths should not be turned over to the Justice Department. The citations covered 32, 52, and 4 instances of interstate shipments of Elixir Sulfanilamide in the respective cities [13].

N.B.: According to an online inflation calculator, $1000 in 1937 = $14,735.63.

1. FDA newspaper clippings. Five elixir death claims settled here. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. December 28, 1937.

2. FDA newspaper clippings. US agents push new drug inquiry. Tulsa Daily World. December 16, 1937.

3. FDA newspaper clippings. Drug firm paying on sulfanilamide elixir claims. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. December 10, 1937.

4. FDA newspaper clippings. Sulfanilamide maker pays. Kansas City Times. December 22, 1937.

5. FDA newspaper clippings. $2000 claim paid for elixir death of St. Louis man. Star-Times. December 10, 1937.

6. FDA correspondence. Letter from G. P. Larrick to Lindsay, Young & Atkins. March 4, 1938.

7. Associated Press. $50,000 is asked in 'elixir' death. Atlanta Constitution. November 13, 1937; p 9. Miller's widow filed suit against Massengill and the Memphis drug store that sold the elixir over the counter.

8. Two new moves in elixir suits. Tulsa Daily World. November 4, 1937.

9. Associated Press. Claims damages from medicine co. Ada Weekly News. November 2, 1937.

10. FDA correspondence. Letter from W. G. Campbell to Armstrong, Cranford, Barker and Bedford. December 14, 1937.

11. FDA correspondence. Letter from W. G. Campbell to George Warren. December 4, 1937.

12. FDA correspondence. Letter from P. B. Dunbar to Hill, Hill, Whiting & Rives. May 2, 1938.

13. FDA newspaper clippings. US agents push new drug inquiry. Tulsa Daily World. December 16, 1937.