Consumer organization Public Citizen has filed a citizen petition with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) challenging its policy of instructing staff, when responding to requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), to not consider “minor deletions,” which can be up to 20 percent of the responsive documents, as a partial FOIA denial that would trigger a requester’s right to an administrative appeal. Public Citizen specifically requests that FDA revoke 21 C.F.R. § 20.49(d) which states, “Minor deletions of nondisclosable data and information from disclosable records shall not be deemed a denial of a request for records.” The organization also asks the agency to revoke parts of its staff manuals. According to the petition, more than 20 years ago, the General Accounting Office (now the Government Accountability Office) (GAO) “urged FDA to rescind its deletions regulation and a similar policy on ‘minor deletions’” because it violates FOIA. Attached to…
Category Archives Issue 454
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reopened the comment period for its October 2, 2012, workshop on competition and consumer protection issues in the pet medications industry. The commission is “seeking the views of consumers, veterinarians, pharmacists, manufacturers, business representatives, economists, lawyers, academics, and other interested parties” submitted by November 1, 2012. FTC’s workshop agenda includes discussions on how pet medications are distributed to consumers and “how these distribution practices affect consumer choice and price competition.” See FTC News Release, September 19, 2012.
