1954regulatory-actioncritical
FDA Injunction against Wilhelm Reich's Orgone Accumulators
Orgone accumulators and orgone-energy literature in interstate commerce
US Food and Drug Administration / US District Court, Maine · USA (District of Maine; Lewisburg Penitentiary)
Method
Civil complaint under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act seeking a permanent injunction against shipment of accumulators and associated literature, following FDA investigation of the device's therapeutic claims.
Findings
- The 1954 injunction declared the accumulator worthless for treating disease, ordered devices destroyed and banned orgone literature from interstate commerce; tons of Reich's books and journals were subsequently incinerated.
- Reich defied the order, was convicted of criminal contempt in 1956 (two years), and died of heart failure in Lewisburg federal penitentiary in November 1957.
Conclusion
The harshest regulatory action in the field's history — and, through the book burning, a lasting civil-liberties controversy independent of orgone's scientific standing.
The proponent response
Orgonomy continues as a small school treating the case as scientific persecution; civil-liberties commentators criticize the literature destruction regardless of the device claims.