August 3, 2017
Victory in Ninth Circuit and records released after remand to district court.
The Goldwater Institute is taking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) to court to bring transparency to the drug approval process.
The FDA previously denied a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request by the Goldwater Institute seeking information about the FDA’s drug approval process that allowed two American doctors infected with Ebola to be successfully treated with a drug that is still in development.
Although the Goldwater Institute sought only information about the government’s internal operations in order to increase public awareness about the drug approval process in the United States, the FDA claimed that releasing the records would invade trade secrets of drug manufacturers. The FDA’s arbitrary withholding of public information violates federal law and undermines the public’s right to know the decisions a government agency is making on life and death matters.
Jon Riches is the Vice President for Litigation for the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation and General Counsel for the Institute. He litigates in federal and state trial and appellate courts in the areas of economic liberty, regulatory reform, free speech, taxpayer protections, public labor issues, government transparency, and school choice, among others.… Read more...
Timothy Sandefur is the Vice President for Legal Affairs at the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation and holds the Duncan Chair in Constitutional Government. He litigates to promote economic liberty, private property rights, free speech, and other crucial values in states across the country. Timothy is the author of eight books, including most… Read more...
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