Records discussing chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine
| Tracking # |
53932 |
| Submitted | April 6, 2020 |
| Est. Completion | None |
MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests like this one. Learn more.
Communications
From: Christopher Tidmarsh
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
Copies of any and all records, including but not limited to physical documents, emails, text messages, word processor documents, etc., which were created between March 1, 2020 and the date this FOIA request is processed, and which contain one or more of the following two words (case-insensitive):
-"chloroquine"
-"hydroxychloroquine"
Specifically, I am seeking records that contain one or more of the words specified above in addition to one or more of the following four words (case-insensitive):
-"COVID-19"
-"SARS-CoV-2"
-"2019-nCoV"
-"coronavirus"
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 20 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Christopher Tidmarsh
From: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Good morning Mr. Tidmarsh,
Your FOIA request below has been received, entered into our tracking system and assigned case number 53932. However, we will be unable to process it as written. Kindly specify the name(s) of individual(s) whose records you would like searched for the terms you specified. As a suggestion, please limit your request as specifically as possible as there are many cases in the queue ahead of yours. Further, many staff members are teleworking during this public health emergency and may be unable to access or process hard copy documents. While it is our goal to help you to obtain the information you are seeking, complex requests involving weeks of documents from officials and researchers on the front lines of this epidemic simply cannot be processed expeditiously in the current environment.
Regards,
Robin
Robin L. Schofield, MPS
FOIA Coordinator
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
From: Christopher Tidmarsh
Hello,
In response to your email, I would like to specify Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as the person whose records I would like to search for the terms I specified.
Also, if you are unable to access hard-copy documents, then I understand. I'm sure that digital records (emails, word processor documents, PDF files, etc.) will have the information I'm looking for.
If necessary, I am willing to simplify my search further such that I would request any digital communications (emails, text messages, Facebook private messages, Twitter direct messages, etc.) between Dr. Fauci and President Donald Trump between March 1, 2020 and April 7, 2020 which contain one or more of the following words: "chloroquine", "hydroxychloroquine", "anti-malarial", "antimalarial", "malarial", or "malaria" (case-insensitive).
I appreciate you being willing to search for the records I'm requesting. I'm sure it must be a very hard time for NIAID right now with the pandemic, so it really means a lot that you're still able and willing to process FOIA requests.
Sincerely,
Christopher Tidmarsh
From: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Thank you for your response. This is very helpful. We will send you an official acknowledgement shortly.
Robin
Robin L. Schofield, MPS
FOIA Coordinator
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
From: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Dear Mr. Tidmarsh,
Attached please find our acknowledgement of your FOIA Case No. 53932.
Regards,
Lauren Bartok
Government Information Specialist
NIAID FOIA Office, OCGR, NIAID, NIH
5601 Fishers Lane, Room 6G50
Rockville, MD 20852
301-451-5109
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 6, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #53932.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Dear Mr. Tidmarsh,
We apologize for the delay in processing your request. Your amended search is for: Anthony S. Fauci's electronic records for the terms and date range you specified above. You further simplified your request to "any digital communications (emails, text messages, Facebook private messages, Twitter direct messages, etc.) between Dr. Fauci and President Donald Trump between March 1, 2020 and April 7, 2020 which contain one or more of the following words: "chloroquine", "hydroxychloroquine", "anti-malarial", "antimalarial", "malarial", or "malaria" (case-insensitive)."
Your case was assigned to the Complex queue due to the anticipated volume of responsive records and the multi-level review that will be involved in producing these documents. At this time, there are 28 cases ahead of yours in the Complex queue and nearly two dozen in the Expedited queue that will have to be processed first. While we cannot give you an exact date when you will receive records, we do not anticipate it will be before the end of the summer.
Thank you for your patience.
Regards,
Robin
Robin L. Schofield, MPS
FOIA Coordinator
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
From: Christopher Tidmarsh
Hello,
Thank you for letting me know. I will look forward to receiving the documents whenever you finish processing my request. But in the meantime, I understand if you need to process other FOIA requests first.
Sincerely,
Christopher Tidmarsh
From: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Dear Mr. Tidmarsh,
Please see attached final response.
Regards,
Robin
Robin L. Schofield, MPS
FOIA Coordinator
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Files
pages