"When it was clearly established sometime later that Laetrile did, indeed, release Hydrogen Cyanide in the presence of the cancer cell, how do you suppose the FDA reacted.? Did they admit that they were wrong.? Did they admit that they had done a very inadequate job in running their tests? No! They now proclaimed that Laetrile contained Hydrogen Cyanide and thus was toxic!

"So, here is a bureau of the Federal Government which, a short time before, had said that the reason Laetrile did not work was because it did not release Hydrogen Cyanide in the presence of cancer cells. Now, when they find that it does, they say that it is toxic. When offered an opportunity to present evidence of Laetrile's toxicity in Federal Court, they admitted that they had none."

Here is what took place in Federal Court as an eminent toxicologist, Dr. Bruce Halstead, was put on the stand to testify...

"Dr. Halstead then took the stand. He carried with him a book which he put in his lap. Under direct questioning from Mr. Coe, Dr. Halstead explained how all substances known to man can be toxic. He showed that while some oxygen is necessary to maintain life, too much oxygen can be fatal. He went through the same procedure with water, salt, and other substances. He then showed that aspirin, sugar and salt were, milligram-for-milligram, more toxic than Laetrile. He further pointed out that chemotherapeutic agents which are commonly used in the treatment of cancer are, milligram-for-milligram, hundreds of times more toxic than Laetrile.

"On cross-examination, the FDA attorney asked Dr. Halstead to give the toxicity figure for some substance (I don't remember what the substance was). Dr. Halstead said, pointing to the book in his lap but never opening it, "On page 311, Table 2, in this book you will find that the toxicity of that substance is .... "(whatever it was). The FDA attorney then named another substance and asked for its toxicity figure. Dr. Halstead answered, "On page 419, Table 3 shows it to be .... "(whatever it was). The attorney tried a third time. Again, Dr. Halstead came up with the page number, table number and toxicity.

"The three FDA attorneys stared at each other for a minute, then one of them said, "How do you know all of this?" Dr. Halstead calmly replied, "Because I wrote the book." "Impossible!" yelled the attorney. Without saying a word, Dr. Halstead took the book from his lap and handed it to Judge Bohanon. The Judge opened the book to its first page and read the following, "Textbook of Toxicology, written by Dr. Bruce Halstead, as commissioned by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States." The Judge said to the FDA attorneys, "You fellows should have known that. You didn't do your homework very well." The FDA attorneys had enough of Dr. Halstead. They dismissed him from the stand.

"When Mr. Coe informed Judge Bohanon that the defense had concluded its testimony, the Judge turned to the FDA attorneys and said, "The court is now prepared to hear your witnesses and view your evidence." One FDA attorney replied, "Your Honor, we don't have any." The rest of the dialogue went like this:
​
“Judge: "You are telling me that you have filed suit in this court that Laetrile is toxic, and you don't have a single witness or a shred of evidence to support such a suit?"

“Attorney: "That is correct, Your Honor."

“Judge: "Then why have you filed such a suit?"

“Attorney: "Because, Your Honor, Laetrile may be dangerous."

“Judge: "Dangerous to whom?"

“Attorney: "Dangerous to the Federal Government, Your Honor."

“Judge: "How could Laetrile possibly be dangerous to the Federal Government?"

“Attorney: "Because, Your Honor, the Government may lose control!"