A consumer advocacy group, Public Citizen, is petitioning the FDA to stop redacting portions of documents released under the Freedom of Information Act without allowing the requester the immediate right to appeal within the agency, arguing that the practice violates the act.
According to Public Citizen, the agency’s policy is to allow "minor deletions" that in practice can result in blacking out entire pages of content, and it requires a requester to file two requests of reconsideration of deleted content before being allowed to appeal. If there is no second appeal the FOIA request is closed without a final determination, Public Citizen said.
"FOIA establishes that withholding any information responsive to a FOIA request constitutes a partial denial, entitling requesters to an administrative appeal," said Julie Murray, Public Citizen’s attorney, adding, "Forcing requesters to make two attempts just to get a proper response to a FOIA request is at odds with the streamlined FOIA process required by Congress."
