Request for records concerning COVID-19 testing availability
| Submitted | April 18, 2020 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Christopher Tidmarsh
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Indiana Access to Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
Any and all digital records (including but not limited to emails, text messages, PDF files, social media posts, etc.) concerning a real or potential shortage of COVID-19 testing supplies in Indiana and/or an estimated timeline on when said COVID-19 testing supplies are expected to be in sufficient supply to meet the general public's demand for COVID-19 testing to the degree necessary to alleviate the COVID-19 pandemic in Indiana.
By "COVID-19 testing supplies", I mean any medical supplies necessary for doctors to administer tests to patients either to diagnose the patients with COVID-19, or to determine whether they have already recovered from COVID-19.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 7 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Christopher Tidmarsh
From: Christopher Tidmarsh
To whom it may concern:
I would like to amend the part of my Indiana Access to Public Records Act request that reads: "...either to diagnose the patients with COVID-19 or to determine whether they have already recovered from COVID-19."
I would like to change it to: "...either to diagnose the patients with COVID-19 or to determine whether they possess immunity to COVID-19 (such as through antibody tests or any other methods that might be used to test for immunity)."
Sincerely,
Christopher Tidmarsh
From: Indiana State Department of Health
[A close up of a sign Description automatically generated]
April 22, 2020
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL ONLY
Email: requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>
Name: Christopher Tidmarsh
Organization: MuckRock
Phone:
Dear Mr. Tidmarsh:
On April 18, 2020, the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) received your requests for records pursuant to the Access to Public Records Act (APRA). Specifically, you requested "any and all digital records (including but not limited to emails, text messages, PDF files, social media posts, etc.) concerning a real or potential shortage of COVID-19 testing supplies in Indiana and/or an estimated timeline on when said COVID-19 testing supplies are expected to be in sufficient supply to meet the general public's demand for COVID-19 testing to the degree necessary to alleviate the COVID-19 pandemic in Indiana."
You specified that "by 'COVID-19 testing supplies', I mean any medical supplies necessary for doctors to administer tests to patients either to diagnose the patients with COVID-19, or to determine whether they have already recovered from COVID-19."
The Indiana Public Access Counselor has advised requestors (see Advisory Opinion 17-FC-52 found at http://www.in.gov/pac/advisory/files/17-FC-52.pdf) that there are four elements to a reasonably particular request. Those elements are:
* A named sender,
* A named recipient,
* A timeframe of six months or less, and
* A set of search terms or subject matter as a parameter.
Your request does not provide these elements. Please revise your request to meet these requirements.
Under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act, agencies must acknowledge an emailed request within seven days of its receipt but are not required to provide records within that time period. This email serves as acknowledgment of your request within the legally mandated timeframe under Indiana Code § 5-14-3-9.
As we currently have several other open APRA requests at this time, we appreciate your patience in advance as we work to complete your request. Once we begin to review our records for relevant documents, we will contact you if we require additional information or clarification.
Indiana Code § 5-14-3-8(b) provides for a copy charge of ten cents ($0.10) per standard sized (8 ½" x 11") pages copied, fifty cents ($0.50) per ledger sized (11" x 17") pages, and $1.00 for plan sized (24" x 36") pages copied. Once we know what records are available in response to your request, we will notify you of any charges prior to sending you the records.
Sincerely,
Megan Wade-Taxter
From: Christopher Tidmarsh
Hello,
Regarding the time frame of my request, I would like to request records created or written between March 1, 2020 and the date this request is processed (inclusive of those dates).
As for the other three parameters you requested, I am going to need some time to figure out how to respond to them. I am hoping to be ready to respond to you next week, or if not, then hopefully the following week.
Thank you for your patience.
Sincerely,
Christopher Tidmarsh
From: Christopher Tidmarsh
Hello,
After thinking it over, the timeframe I would like to specify is any time between March 1, 2020 and May 26, 2020 (inclusive of those dates).
As for the search terms, I would like to request records containing BOTH one or more of the following terms: "test", "tests", or "testing", AND one or more of the following terms: "shortage", "capacity", "enough", "equipment", "reagent", "swabs", "kits", "diagnostics", or "lack".
However, I don't know enough about the Indiana State Department of Health to specify sender(s) and/or recipient(s) whose records are the most likely to be responsive to my request. If you are able to help me at all, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you,
Christopher Tidmarsh
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Indiana Access to Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 18, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Indiana Access to Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 18, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Indiana Access to Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 18, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Indiana Access to Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 18, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Indiana Access to Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 18, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Indiana Access to Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 18, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Indiana Access to Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 18, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Indiana Access to Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 18, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Indiana Access to Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 18, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Indiana State Department of Health
We’ve been inundated with public records requests over the past several months and have over 50 requests pending. We are working to fulfill those requests as quickly as possible and have recently gotten assistance from another state agency’s attorneys to help us pull and review records. We’re handling requests in the order in which they’re received, so there are several ahead of yours.
I will let you know as soon as we have identified records for your requests.
We appreciate your patience as we work through these.
Sincerely,
Megan Wade-Taxter
-
~WRD0001
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Indiana Access to Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 18, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Indiana State Department of Health
We are still working through each request. We will notify you as soon as records have been identified, pulled and had a legal review.
Sincerely,
Megan Wade-Taxter
-
~WRD0001
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Indiana Access to Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 18, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Indiana State Department of Health
Dear Mr. Tidmarsh.
We are continuing to receive a high volume of public records requests. Due to elevated COVID-19 cases, many IDOH staff remain pulled from their regular duties to focus efforts on the agency’s response to the pandemic. We appreciate your patience as we work to complete your request and will provide an update as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Megan Wade-Taxter
-
~WRD0000
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Indiana Access to Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 18, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Indiana State Department of Health
Your request for “any and all digital records (including but not limited to emails, text messages, PDF files, social media posts, etc.) concerning a real or potential shortage of COVID-19 testing supplies in Indiana and/or an estimated timeline on when said COVID-19 testing supplies are expected to be in sufficient supply to meet the general public's demand for COVID-19 testing to the degree necessary to alleviate the COVID-19 pandemic in Indiana.”
You specified that “by ‘COVID-19 testing supplies’, I mean any medical supplies necessary for doctors to administer tests to patients either to diagnose the patients with COVID-19, or to determine whether they have already recovered from COVID-19.”
The Indiana Public Access Counselor has advised requestors (see Advisory Opinion 17-FC-52 found at http://www.in.gov/pac/advisory/files/17-FC-52.pdf) that there are four elements to a reasonably particular request. Those elements are:
* A named sender,
* A named recipient,
* A timeframe of six months or less, and
* A set of search terms or subject matter as a parameter.
Your request does not provide these elements. Please revise your request to meet these requirements.
-
~WRD0001