The entire trial was estimated to cost over six million dollars and last between six and eight months but both were reduced by nearly half because of Kathy Boudin's plea acceptance and the states willingness to cover some of the security costs.
On May 4, 1984 a physician from Spokane, Washington said he had warned the distributor of an intravenous Vitamin E solution last January that the drug was thought to have contributed to the deaths of four babies in his city. The physician's statements were made to a house subcommittee that was investigating the conduct of the Food and Drug Administration regarding that same drug which was also linked to the deaths of thirty-eight babies nation wide.
The drug agency issued a statement saying that, based on reports from hospital administrations, a total of thirty-eight such infant deaths had been reported among premature babies treated with the drug, E-Ferol Aqueous Solution, including ten in San Antonio, Texas. It was stated that the agency had failed to acct November 1983, when they were told E-Ferol was being marketed though it had not been tested. The drug's distributor stated that it was able to market E-Ferol without tests because the vitamin was already being sold on other forms.
The Federal Drug Administration Commissioner, Dr. Mark Novitch, said that the product should have gotten more scrutiny, but he stated that since the agency did not hear about the deaths, they did not have the adequate information to question the product.
On 5th of May, two rivals joined forces. Hasbro Industries agreed to acquire the Milton Bradley Company in a two-step transaction valued at about three hundred and fifty million dollars. Hasbro also bought about eight percent pf Milton Bradley's stock. In the first day of trading after the announcement of the merger, the Hasbro stock gained 1.125 dollars to 37.125 dollars on the American Stock Exchange and Milton Bradley stock jumped 2.
