Montana Code Annotated 2023

TITLE 50. HEALTH AND SAFETY

CHAPTER 31. MONTANA FOOD, DRUG, AND COSMETIC ACT

Part 5. Prohibited Acts, Penalties, and Remedies

Prohibited Acts

50-31-501. Prohibited acts. The following acts and the causing of the acts within the state of Montana are prohibited:

(1) the manufacture, sale or delivery, holding, or offering for sale of any food, drug, device, or cosmetic that is adulterated or misbranded;

(2) the adulteration or misbranding of any food, drug, device, or cosmetic;

(3) the receipt in commerce of any food, drug, device, or cosmetic that is adulterated or misbranded and the delivery or proffered delivery of any food, drug, device, or cosmetic for pay or otherwise;

(4) the sale, delivery for sale, holding for sale, or offering for sale of any article in violation of 50-31-311;

(5) the dissemination of any false advertisement;

(6) the refusal to permit entry or inspection or to permit the taking of a sample, as authorized by 50-31-106;

(7) the giving of a guaranty or undertaking if the guaranty or undertaking is false, except by a person who relied on a guaranty or undertaking signed by and containing the name and address of a person residing in the state of Montana and from whom the person received in good faith the food, drug, device, or cosmetic;

(8) the removal or disposal of a detained or embargoed article in violation of 50-31-509;

(9) the alteration, mutilation, destruction, obliteration, or commission of any other act with respect to a food, drug, device, or cosmetic or the removal, in whole or in part, of the labeling of a food, drug, device, or cosmetic if the act is done while the article is held for sale and results in the article being adulterated or misbranded;

(10) forging, counterfeiting, simulating, or falsely representing or, without proper authority, using any mark, stamp, tag, label, or other identification device authorized or required by regulations promulgated under the provisions of this chapter or federal act;

(11) using on the labeling of any drug or in any advertisement relating to the drug any representation or suggestion that an application with respect to the drug is effective under 50-31-311 or that the drug complies with the provisions of 50-31-311;

(12) in the case of a prescription drug distributed or offered for sale in this state, the failure of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor to maintain for transmittal or to transmit to any practitioner, licensed by applicable law to administer the drug and who makes written request for information as to the drug, true and correct copies of all printed matter that is required to be included in any package in which that drug is distributed or sold or other printed matter as is approved under the federal act. This subsection does not exempt any person from any labeling requirement imposed by or under other provisions of this chapter.

(13) placing or causing to be placed upon any drug, device, or container of a drug or device, with intent to defraud, the trade name, other identifying mark, or imprint of another or any likeness of the name, mark, or imprint;

(14) selling, dispensing, disposing of, or causing to be sold, dispensed, or disposed of or concealing or keeping in possession, control, or custody, with intent to sell, dispense, or dispose of, any drug, device, or any container of the drug or device with knowledge that the trade name, other identifying mark, or imprint of another or any likeness of any of the foregoing has been placed on the drug, device, or container in a manner prohibited by subsection (13);

(15) making, selling, disposing of, or causing to be made, sold, or disposed of or keeping in possession, control, or custody or concealing, with intent to defraud, any punch, die, plate, or other thing designed to print, imprint, or reproduce a trade name, other identifying mark, or imprint of another or any likeness of the name, mark, or imprint upon any drug, device, or container of the drug or device;

(16) the using by any person to the person's own advantage or revealing, other than to officers or employees of the department or the courts when relevant in any judicial proceeding under this chapter, any information acquired under authority of this chapter concerning any method or process that as a trade secret is entitled to protection;

(17) the distribution in commerce of a consumer commodity if the commodity is contained in a package or if there is affixed to that commodity a label that does not conform to the provisions of this chapter and of regulations promulgated under authority of this chapter. This prohibition does not apply to persons engaged in business as wholesale or retail distributors of consumer commodities except to the extent that the persons:

(a) are engaged in the packaging or labeling of the commodities; or

(b) prescribe or specify by any means the manner in which the commodities are packaged or labeled.

(18) the labeling or packaging of a food, drug, device, or cosmetic that fails to conform with the requirements of this chapter.

History: En. Sec. 3, Ch. 307, L. 1967; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 171, L. 1971; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 114, L. 1974; amd. Sec. 9, Ch. 403, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 27-703(1) thru (16); amd. Sec. 309, Ch. 546, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 373, L. 2003.