Navy and Marine Corps Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

Copies of the formal review, and any attachments thereto, submitted by the Office of the Navy Surgeon General or the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, in response to Assistant Secretary of Defense (ASD) Health Affairs (HA) memorandum dated 17 January 2012, subject: Service Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices (http://truth-out.org/files/Mefloquine-QA-Memo-JAN-2012-(Signed).pdf), which requested that the results of a service-wide review of mefloquine prescribing practices within the Navy and Marine Corps be completed within 90 days of the date of the memorandum. In considering the possible application of FOIA exemption (b)(3) to this request, please consider that the provisions of 10 USC § 1102 (d) (1) specify that “[n]othing in this section shall be construed as authorizing or requiring the withholding from any person or entity aggregate statistical information regarding the results of Department of Defense medical quality assurance programs”.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, 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 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Remington Nevin

To Whom It May Concern:

The attached request has not yet been acknowledged. Please confirm receipt and provide an estimated date of completion forthwith.

Thank you very much.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 21, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

Office of the Judge Advocate General
NJAG Code 14
1322 Patterson Avenue, SE, Suite 3000
Building 33, Washington Navy Yard
Washington, DC 20374-5066
Re: FOIA Request dated September 21, 2014, subject: “Navy and Marine Corps Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices”

This is an appeal under the Freedom of Information Act. I am writing to appeal the constructive denial of a request properly made to the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery on September 21, 2014 and formally unacknowledged as of this date.

The Freedom of Information Act provides an agency no more than thirty days to respond to a request . When an agency fails to respond within that statutory timeline, it has constructively denied the request. (See Oglesby v. U.S. Dep't of Army, 920 F.2d 57, 65 (D.C. Cir. 1990) (“Congress adopted the time limit provision in the FOIA in order to ‘contribute to the fuller and faster release of information, which is the basic objective of the Act.’” (quoting H.R. Rep. No. 93-876, 93d Cong., 2d Sess., reprinted (1974) U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News 6267 at 6271))).

As may be confirmed at the public website MuckRock (https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/navy-and-marine-corps-review-of-mefloquine-prescribing-practices-13521/, a FOIA request for “[c]opies of the formal review, and any attachments thereto, submitted by the Office of the Navy Surgeon General or the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, in response to Assistant Secretary of Defense (ASD) Health Affairs (HA) memorandum dated 17 January 2012, subject: Service Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices (http://truth-out.org/files/Mefloquine-QA-Memo-JAN-2012-(Signed).pdf), which requested that the results of a service-wide review of mefloquine prescribing practices within the Navy and Marine Corps be completed within 90 days of the date of the memorandum”) was submitted the FOIA representative at the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery at the following address on September 21, 2014:

Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
Medical-Legal Affairs Office
7700 Arlington Blvd Ste 5124
Falls Church, VA 22042-5124
Email: BUMED.FOIA@med.navy.mil

Follow-up messages requesting acknowledgement were sent October 28, 2014 and November 27, 2014, but despite this, no acknowledgement or replies have been forthcoming.

As your agency has not met the statutory time requirement in responding to my request, the provisions of section 6 of the OPEN Government Act of 2007, Pub. L. No. 110-175, 121 Stat. 2524, shall apply, including the provision that "[a]n agency shall not assess search fees (or in the case of a requester described under clause (ii)(II) [of 5 USC § 552 (a)(4)(A) as described above], duplication fees) . . . if the agency fails to comply with any time limit… if no unusual or exceptional circumstances… apply to the processing of the request."

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation with this matter. I look forward to receiving a response to my original request no later than January 15, 2015.

Sincerely,

Dr. Remington Nevin

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 21, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #5720.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

Upon appeal, this request has been remanded back to your office for review. Confirmation of receipt and an estimated date of completion would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 21, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 21, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 21, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

Office of the Judge Advocate General
NJAG Code 14
1322 Patterson Avenue, SE, Suite 3000
Building 33, Washington Navy Yard
Washington, DC 20374-5066

Re: FOIA Request dated September 21, 2014, subject: “Navy and Marine Corps Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices”: DON-NAVY-2015-002654

This is an appeal under the Freedom of Information Act. I am writing to appeal the continuing constructive denial of a request properly made to the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) on September 21, 2014, for which an appeal for constructive denial was initially filed with your office December 16, 2014.

In your office’s reply to my appeal dated January 22, 2015, granting my appeal, your office advised me that my request was being remanded to BUMED for processing and direct response within 20 working days.

As of today’s date, I have yet to receive acknowledgement of my request from BUMED, nor any documents responsive to my request.

My original request was for “[c]opies of the formal review, and any attachments thereto, submitted by the Office of the Navy Surgeon General or the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, in response to Assistant Secretary of Defense (ASD) Health Affairs (HA) memorandum dated 17 January 2012, subject: Service Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices (http://truth-out.org/files/Mefloquine-QA-Memo-JAN-2012-(Signed).pdf), which requested that the results of a service-wide review of mefloquine prescribing practices within the Navy and Marine Corps be completed within 90 days of the date of the memorandum.”

In my original request, I had noted that in considering the possible application of FOIA exemption (b)(3) to my request, that consideration be given to the provisions of 10 USC § 1102 (d)(1) which specifies that “[n]othing in this section shall be construed as authorizing or requiring the withholding from any person or entity aggregate statistical information regarding the results of Department of Defense medical quality assurance programs”.

I thank you in advance for the anticipated cooperation with this matter. I look forward to receiving a response to my inquiry no later than July 17, 2015.

Sincerely,

Dr. Remington Nevin

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on my Freedom of Information request originally submitted on Sept. 21, 2014, for "Copies of the formal review, and any attachments thereto, submitted by the Office of the Navy Surgeon General or the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, in response to Assistant Secretary of Defense (ASD) Health Affairs (HA) memorandum dated 17 January 2012, subject: Service Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices".

On appeal of your office's constructive denial of this request, the U.S. Navy Office of the Judge Advocate General granted my appeal and remanded my request to your office for processing and direct response. Unfortunately, as of the present date, I have yet to receive any responsive documents from your office in response to this request.

Please acknowledge this message and my successful appeal, and provide me with an estimated date when I will be provided with the documents responsive to my request, as required by statute.

Thank you,

Dr. Remington