Vermont Dairy Farm Agrees To Permanent Injunction Barring Unlawful Administration Of Veterinary Drugs

Farm and Three Individual Defendants Agree to Settle Allegations That Adulterated Food and Drugs Were Introduced Into Interstate Commerce in Violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act

The Department of Justice has filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Vermont seeking a permanent injunction against the Correia Farm Limited Partnership d/b/a Wynsum Holsteins, a dairy farm located in West Addison, Vermont, and its co-owners, Anthony and Barbara Correia, and their son and limited partner Stephen Correia, to address alleged violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act (“FDCA”).

According to the complaint, which was filed by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont and the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch on behalf of the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), the farm and individual defendants violated the FDCA by unlawfully administering new animal drugs for uses not approved by the FDA and unlawfully selling livestock for slaughter and human consumption despite the presence of excessive and unsafe drug residues in the animals’ edible tissues. The complaint states that previous inspections of the farm by the FDA and lab tests performed by the United States Department of Agriculture found recurring FDCA violations of the same nature, which the defendants failed to correct despite FDA warnings.

The defendants have agreed to settle the litigation and be bound by a consent decree of permanent injunction that subjects them to heightened FDA oversight and requires them to, among other things, implement a number of new record-keeping and operational protocols designed to ensure consumer safety. The proposed decree was filed with the district court and is awaiting judicial approval.

“When farms fail to implement and maintain appropriate controls for the administration of antibiotics and other drugs to food-producing animals, they jeopardize public health,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to work with the FDA to try to make sure that consumers are getting safe food.”

“Vermonters want to know what is in the food they eat, and they deserve food that is free from harmful drugs. The United States Attorney’s Office will continue to vigorously protect those rights and to hold unscrupulous food producers accountable,” said United States Attorney Eric S. Miller. “I commend the Correias for their willingness to enter into a consent decree that will require them to do their part to protect the safety of our food supply.”

This matter was handled by Trial Attorney Megan Englehart of the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant United States Attorney Ben Weathers-Lowin of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont, with assistance from Yen Hoang of the FDA’s Office of the Chief Counsel. The defendants were represented by Amy Menard of Neuse, Duprey & Putnam, P.C.

*A complaint sets forth allegations that the government would need to prove in the event that the case were to proceed to trial.