Michigan Licensure Complaints Against Three Practitioners

Dear Mr. Anderson:

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) has received your request for public records and has processed it under the provisions of the Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 et seq.

Your request has been granted in part and denied in part. Portions of your request are exempt from disclosure based on provisions set forth in the Act. Please see comments below.

Comments:
As to the partial grant, non-exempt documents responsive to your request are attached.

As to the partial denial, the records/information requested have been redacted because: they contain information of a personal nature (home address, driver's license number, DOB) which, if released, would constitute in an invasion of an individual's privacy (MCL 15.243(1)(a)), disclose an individual's social security number (MCL 15.243(1)(w)), and they are subject to medical/religious client privileges (MCL 15.243(1)(h)) and the medical/psychological counseling facts/evaluations would reveal an individual's identity (MCL 15.243(1)(l)). "Because the privilege of confidentiality belongs solely to the patient, it can only be waived by the patient . . . the privilege precludes the disclosure of treatment histories and even the names of patients . . . [and it] prohibits disclosure even when the patient's identity is redacted." Meier v Awaad, 299 Mich App 655, 666, 667 (2013.) (Internal citations omitted.)

Additionally, some of the records/information you requested are specifically described as exempt from disclosure by another agency statute (MCL 15.243(1)(d)): MCL 333.16231(7) provides that the identity of a person who had submitted an allegation is confidential until disciplinary proceedings are initiated.

Finally, to the best of the LARA's knowledge, information, and belief, under the information provided by you or by any other description reasonably known to LARA, the public records regarding Bertling-Safford or Burns do not exist (MCL 15.235(5)(b)).

As to the denial of your request, under section 10 of the FOIA, MCL 15.240, LARA is obligated to inform you that you may do the following:

1) Appeal this decision in writing to Director Shelly Edgerton, Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, P.O. Box 30004, Lansing, MI 48909. The writing must specifically state the word "appeal" and must identify the reason or reasons you believe the denial [partial denial] should be reversed. The head of the Department or her designee must respond to your appeal within 10 business days of its receipt. Under unusual circumstances, the time for response to your appeal may be extended by 10 business days.

2) Commence an action in the Court of Claims within 180 days after the date of the final determination to deny the request. If you prevail in such an action, the court is to award reasonable attorney fees, costs, and disbursements, and possible damages.

Sincerely,

LARA FOIA Office
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Dear Mr. Anderson:

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) has received your request for public records under the provisions of the Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 et seq., on 5/21/2018.

In order to determine the existence of any records/information that might be responsive to your request we require additional time to search for and retrieve records; review and examine any found records to separate exempt from nonexempt material; and to determine any allowable processing costs. For these reasons, it is necessary to extend the time for response to 6/12/2018.

If you have questions concerning this matter, please feel free to contact the LARA FOIA Office at LARAFOIAInfo@michigan.gov<mailto:LARAFOIAInfo@michigan.gov>.

To review a copy of the LARA's written public summary, procedures, and guidelines, go to www.michigan.gov/lara<http://www.michigan.gov/lara>.

Sincerely,

LARA FOIA Office
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Thank you for contacting us for clarification. The answers to your questions are below.

- The complaint regarding Aveni in 1995 is no longer available. It was destroyed as required by LARA's retention and disposal schedules.
- The most recent complaint is still being investigated.
- The attachment to the complaint was withheld, as it was a medical record. The exemption was provided in LARA's May 18, 2018 response.

Thank you again,
LARA FOIA Office
sf

Dear Evan Anderson:

Thank you for your interest in public records of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs of Michigan. Your 5/21/2019 request has been received in this office and given the reference number R025225-052219 for tracking purposes. A written request made by facsimile, electronic mail, or other electronic transmission is not received by a public body's FOIA coordinator until one (1) business day after the electronic transmission is made. (MCL15.235(1))
Records Requested: "I want to follow up on this request to see if the investigation into the complaint against Eileen Aveni (6801020495) lodged on or around 12/21/2017 has been completed, as well as if there are any additional more recent complaints. Please consider this a request for those documents."
In accordance with the Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), MI LARA provides copies of its public records. Records which are exempt from disclosure by state or federal law will not be provided.
The FOIA does not require governmental bodies to create new records or answer questions. A request must ask for records or information already in existence. A person has the right to subscribe to future issuance of public records that are created, issued or disseminated on a regular basis.
Michigan LARA will respond within five business days to a request. If needed, the agency may issue a notice extending for up to 10 additional business days the time it has to respond to your request.
You can monitor the progress of your request at the link below and you'll receive an email when your request has been completed. FOIA Request Center (https://u8387778.ct.sendgrid.net/wf/click?upn=xSfKPyHO1-2F4Mny2NCLJVusgoAdzMmLBxVwCruSy6TgMrQ5rx5ufYlV4K8Ml3828m6WSe2NQ0unga85eZXTfFPS0QDLfAkHLegiEtzjBBO2w-3D_rDWtMOmA9IkQQCPsWT-2FkSCoMjRlY8yknhSdtog1ytyEXThtGi0hoUuurrUt34UK-2B73aW-2BnLZcN-2BhRUxHrD-2BApZLwnSk2yi9aAuqov2kbabC-2FWK5NBZdzKjDyLYJB5nOaroSEsCQqUyBhBBlFbCtRrb7s4ugxh3hdYFUXrXrgQV9y9inOEgrNugxmiglI5q5qzUtpk9SMx84bm4mfxLhRklDpPJgpKkms-2F4pX2Un-2FfTodawUk0N0uSeu-2Foi7BWXZsOXM0xudKuPhBo-2B2fe8NdV6r4yoPuNOTUcNJmR7JFxvrFcbaTFlsiFm-2FOb4oSgYEmoZ8SHxrkx09mXm8nQmefX94abOUi9PZDZWBJecJH4HzpgeA63-2BdFFJwLWSsBPFy3ofqPDKHJx3YYjJTwIK-2FLPw-3D-3D)
Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs

Dear Evan Anderson,
Thank you for registering with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. (MI LARA)
Your Login ID is:  requests@muckrock.com
If you did not submit your request through the public portal but are receiving this e-mail, an account has been created for you where you can track and monitor the status of your request, and receive any documents in response to your request.
If you have never used this system or cannot remember your password you may request a temporary password here: Request Temporary Password (https://u4037834.ct.sendgrid.net/wf/click?upn=L5asTq9oAWi6tKrRmhm-2FjehrimUszWClCLOI7hbSN03FbU57NDhovWuE6n5X28FZd9WhFwrbAQ0YitZX9xpKTOufnfgCaYdDQVWmC3Msdew-3D_rDWtMOmA9IkQQCPsWT-2FkSCoMjRlY8yknhSdtog1ytyEXThtGi0hoUuurrUt34UK-2BPkYXYB4n3g-2BGVQkvcrjXswrWQ2gvp5ChW-2BDabY0w-2Fmm20VQBL6XC-2BBcsqMxXcGXg0UrAOvIfmZ-2Bl8QZIfncMXNBLSu4Ekt-2BxPfa00rBF91PC4gUbLdQDmFATbO4oT0X8wnFuRWaEH7qoplM4UzmCXrS0SUfg68e-2BKtUazbRRQGmM3PyJwIygNMKQl7e3C-2BRz)
Please login to "My Request Center" to update your account information, track the status of your request and receive requested records when they become available.

May 30, 2019

Subject: FOIA Request

Dear Evan Anderson,

Your 5/21/2019 request has been received in this office and given the reference number R025225-052219 for tracking purposes. A written request made by facsimile, electronic mail, or other electronic transmission is not received by a public body's FOIA coordinator until one (1) business day after the electronic transmission is made. (MCL15.235(1))
In order to determine the existence of any records/information that might be responsive to your request we require additional time to search for and retrieve records; review and examine any found records to separate exempt from nonexempt material; and to determine any allowable processing costs.  For these reasons, it is necessary to extend the time for response to 6/13/2019.

If you have questions concerning this matter, please feel free to contact the LARA FOIA Office at LARAFOIAInfo@michigan.gov.

To review a copy of the LARA’s written public summary, procedures, and guidelines, go to www.michigan.gov/lara. (www.michigan.gov/lara)

Sincerely,

LARA FOIA Office

--- Please respond above this line ---

June 13, 2019
RE: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of May 21, 2019, Reference # R025225-052219.
Dear Evan Anderson:
The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) has received your May 21, 2019 request for records on May 22, 2019, and has processed it under the provisions of the Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 et seq.
You requested the following:
“I want to follow up on this request to see if the investigation into the complaint against Eileen Aveni (6801020495) lodged on or around 12/21/2017 has been completed, as well as if there are any additional more recent complaints. Please consider this a request for those documents.”
Your request has been granted in part and denied in part.  Portions of your request are exempt from disclosure based on provisions set forth in the Act. Please see comments below. Comments:
As to the partial grant, the records are available in the . (https://u8387778.ct.sendgrid.net/wf/click?upn=xSfKPyHO1-2F4Mny2NCLJVusgoAdzMmLBxVwCruSy6TgMrQ5rx5ufYlV4K8Ml3828mdmfNKMFn2gEQuEeAUU3Rw8Pu59mWapHD2C8neLQVI-2F4-3D_rDWtMOmA9IkQQCPsWT-2FkSCoMjRlY8yknhSdtog1ytyEXThtGi0hoUuurrUt34UK-2B73aW-2BnLZcN-2BhRUxHrD-2BApTQ-2B2Kpa8i8tbIbYJqdu4NJIa8QVgTb99iTFiMgJExGujEL8-2F0ZVm5FJ6B6KFWw20Lgkk3FumsAt9yHjXflDmbRenp9e2UAoSpDJZ6LvKD-2F4MpcS63FAViqd6IyoG-2B2t0fKS8CrAlOShZ-2BShG-2FISrdT-2Fg8Ckd7Oebk4vHRww7VXFUNOs4EitGZCL-2ByJaPUDCTubcqupGgK2Jn0TlVHpMv88UhoioNICOriZQUtHp4XZYcEAB9RX1uz5ulYnR6FFatlDpIkFFCsgiJgrtfRPAHVlP6jh6RhuWmag44scj5BYpNRZFEhWU0rGHeHohEw69Gg-3D-3D) FOIA Center
As to the partial denial, the records/information you requested have been redacted because they contain information of a personal nature (name, phone number, address, fax number, date of birth) that if disclosed would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of an individual’s privacy (MCL 15.243(1)(a)), they are subject to medical/religious client privileges (MCL 15.243(1)(h)), are medical/psychological counseling facts/evaluations that would reveal an individual’s identity if disclosed (MCL 15.243(1)(l)), and would disclose an individual’s social security number (MCL 15.243(1)(w)).
Further, some of the records/information you requested have been withheld because they are investigating records compiled for law enforcement purposes, and if released would disclose investigative techniques and procedures (MCL 15.243(1)(b)(v)). Release of such records would disclose agency investigative techniques and procedures, including investigative recommendations.
Additionally, some of the records/information you requested are specifically described as exempt from disclosure by another agency statute (MCL 15.243(1)(d)): MCL 333.16231(7) provides that the identity of a person who submitted an allegation is confidential until disciplinary proceedings are initiated and the person that made the allegation is required to testify in the proceedings. Lastly, to the best of the LARA’s knowledge, information, and belief, under the information provided by you or by any other description reasonably known to LARA, the public records do not exist (MCL 15.235(5)(b)). No additional recent allegations about the licensee have been received. Under section 10 of the FOIA, MCL 15.240, the Department is obligated to inform you that you may do the following: 1)  Appeal this decision in writing to Appeals Officer Adam Sandoval, Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, P.O. Box 30004, Lansing, MI 48909.  The writing must specifically state the word “appeal” and must identify the reason or reasons you believe the partial denial should be reversed.  The head of the Department or her designee must respond to your appeal within 10 business days of its receipt.  Under unusual circumstances, the time for response to your appeal may be extended by 10 business days. 2)  Commence an action in the Court of Claims within 180 days after the date of the final determination to deny the request.  If you prevail in such an action, the court is to award reasonable attorney fees, costs, and disbursements, and possible damages.
Please note: These records will be available in the FOIA Center for 365 calendar days; and will then be destroyed as required by the Department’s records and retention schedule.
If you have questions concerning this matter, please email us at . (mailto:larafoiainfo@michigan.gov) larafoiainfo@michigan.gov
To review a copy of LARA’s written public summary, procedures, and guidelines, please visit . (https://u8387778.ct.sendgrid.net/wf/click?upn=RfBx8VmZWby8RC14fgB-2F0KAddZWi20-2F-2Be91YqpZxycLbmZluore0EPf-2BsbKlo5KI_rDWtMOmA9IkQQCPsWT-2FkSCoMjRlY8yknhSdtog1ytyEXThtGi0hoUuurrUt34UK-2B73aW-2BnLZcN-2BhRUxHrD-2BApTQ-2B2Kpa8i8tbIbYJqdu4NJIa8QVgTb99iTFiMgJExGujEL8-2F0ZVm5FJ6B6KFWw20Lgkk3FumsAt9yHjXflDmbRenp9e2UAoSpDJZ6LvKD-2F4MpcS63FAViqd6IyoG-2B2t0fKS8CrAlOShZ-2BShG-2FISrdT-2Fg8Ckd7Oebk4vHRww7VXFAxwwgHHxQSpXc67-2BSvJYswFnQH3v9vrNsrdF5uURN88jNk-2FlO82xuzS-2BPALuW4NLGLkX4HgIRdOPVkhSGxsrmN9buekMlUiSJo8tjSoCH4Jq2Fmpr8RHsFjzReHFk1sDIL-2B4AebmG3RKPyWLh3lTWQ-3D-3D) www.michigan.gov/larafoia
Sincerely,
LARA FOIA Office
hk

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