Service Reviews of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices
Tracking # |
14-F-1279 |
Submitted | July 10, 2014 |
Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Remington Nevin
To Whom It May Concern:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:
All documents received by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), to include service reviews of mefloquine prescribing practices, in response to the memorandum dated 17 January 2012, Subject: Service Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices (see: truth-out.org/files/Mefloquine-QA-Memo-JAN-2012-(Signed).pdf), which directed that results of this review be received by the OASD(HA) within 90 days of the memorandum.
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
From: TRICARE Management Activity
An acknowledgement letter, stating the request is being processed.
From: TRICARE Management Activity
The request has been forwarded from one agency to another agency or department for further review or follow up.
From: Marye, Charles
Dear Remington Nevin: This is an interim response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated July 10, 2014, which was received in this office on August 13, 2014. Your request has been assigned case number 14-F-1279 and we ask that you use that number when referring to your request. We received your request from the Defense Health Agency who referred it to our Office. I have determined that you should be placed in the "other" category for fee purposes as you have indicated that you do not seek access to these records for commercial purposes. The "other" fee category affords you two hours of search time and 100 pages of duplication free of charge. As you did not provide any willingness to pay, search will be halted after your two free hours have been expended. If you wish to add a willingness to pay, please contact the action officer assigned to your request at your earliest convenience.
We will be unable to respond to your request within the FOIA’s 20 day statutory time period as there are unusual circumstances which impact on our ability to quickly process your request. These unusual circumstances are: (a) the need to search for and collect records from a facility geographically separated from this Office; (b) the potential volume of records responsive to your request; and (c) the need for consultation with one or more other agencies or DoD components having a substantial interest in either the determination or the subject matter of the records. For these reasons, your request has been placed in our complex processing queue and will be worked in the order the request was received. Our current administrative workload is 1554 open requests.
If you would like to discuss how to limit your request in order to speed the processing time, we would be pleased to discuss how you might modify your request. The action officer assigned to your request is Charles Marye at (571) 372-0407. The toll free number for this Office is 866-574-4970. You may not be aware that we maintain a website and electronic reading room at: http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/
Thank you,
Charles Marye Office of Freedom of Information
Department of Defense
1155 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1155
FAX: (571) 372-0500
From: Remington Nevin
Defense Freedom of Information Policy Office
Attn: Mr. James Hogan
1155 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301-1155
Re: Freedom of Information Act Appeal, Case #14-F-1279
This is an appeal under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby appeal the denial of my fee waiver request as described in your letter of August 19, 2014 on the basis that it can be demonstrated that disclosure of the requested information would substantially benefit the public interest.
As described in the original FOIA request, the requested information includes
“[a]ll documents received by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), to include service reviews of mefloquine prescribing practices, in response to the memorandum dated 17 January 2012, Subject: Service Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices”. In substantiation of the claim that release of the requested information would benefit the public interest, it can be demonstrated that: 1. the requestor has utilized similar information to inform both Senate testimony and invited commentary to the Food and Drug Administration on the use of mefloquine within the Department of Defense, and 2. these efforts have led to widespread media attention focusing attention on patterns of widespread misprescribing of mefloquine within the Department of Defense, and the associated health risks of such misprescribing (see, e.g. popular media stories at http://www.cbsnews.com/news/elite-army-units-to-stop-taking-anti-malarial-drug/ and http://www.cbsnews.com/news/some-us-troops-haunted-by-anti-malaria-drugs-side-effects/ where the requestor is directly quoted).
These facts reasonably substantiate that release of the requested information to the requestor would constitute an act “significantly contributing to the public’s increased understanding of the operations and activities of government”.
In accordance with 5 USC § 552 (a)(4)(A)(ii)(II), fees or FOIA requests “shall be limited to reasonable standard charges for document duplication when records are not sought for commercial use and the request is made by an educational or noncommercial scientific institution, whose purpose is scholarly or scientific research; or a representative of the news media. As such, should your agency deny my request, this requestor is nonetheless entitled to a waiver of any search fees, and the costs of your agency’s compliance with my request must be limited to the actual costs of duplication.
Although your agency has claimed the existence of 3 “unusual circumstances” justifying the extraordinary delay in responding to this request, 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(B) permits your agency only an additional 10 days to respond to my request even in the presence of such “unusual circumstances”. Additionally, on the basis of the information requested, it is questionable whether 2 of the 3 “unusual circumstances” identified by your office may reasonably apply to this particular request.
You note one “unusual circumstance” is the “potential volume of records responsive to your request. This request asks only for documents to include “service reviews of mefloquine prescribing practices” received by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) from the military services and Joint Task Force, National Capital Region-Medical, specifically in response to the OASD(HA) memorandum dated January 17, 2012. This memorandum was addressed to only four offices: 1. The Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), 2. The Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), 3. The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), and 4. The Commander, Joint Task Force, National Capital Region-Medical. It is not plausible that these four addressees, or their designees, generated a large “potential volume of records” in responding formally to the January 17, 2012 request for information. In this regard, please consider this appeal as clarification to interpret the original FOIA request as limiting the “potential volume of records responsive” to this request to the four formal replies received, together with any correspondence attached thereto.
You also note another “unusual circumstance” is the “need to search for and collect records from a facility geographically separated from this Office”. As this FOIA request asks only for those documents specifically requested by the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) in response to the January 17, 2012 memorandum, it is not plausible that these documents both: 1. would not already be organized and immediately accessible to a search of existing documents maintained by the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) , and 2: would not readily producible within the statutory period through a simple search of existing correspondence.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter.
Sincerely,
Remington Nevin
From: MuckRock
To Whom It May Concern:
The attached Freedom of Information Act appeal was submitted to the attention of James Hogan at the appropriate office on August 29, 2014. Acknowledgment of receipt has not yet been provided. Please advise as to the status of both this appeal's delivery and its processing.
Thank you very much for your help.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 10, 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 #2014-151.
Thank you for your help.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 10, 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 #2014-151.
Thank you for your help.
From: Remington Nevin
To Whom It May Concern:
The attached Freedom of Information Act fee waiver appeal related to case number 14-F-1279 was submitted to the attention of James Hogan at the appropriate office on August 29, 2014. Acknowledgment of receipt has not yet been provided. Please advise as to the status of both this appeal's delivery and its processing.
Thank you very much for your help.
____________________________________________________
Defense Freedom of Information Policy Office
Attn: Mr. James Hogan
1155 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301-1155
Re: Freedom of Information Act Appeal, Case #14-F-1279
This is an appeal under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby appeal the denial of my fee waiver request as described in your letter of August 19, 2014 on the basis that it can be demonstrated that disclosure of the requested information would substantially benefit the public interest.
As described in the original FOIA request, the requested information includes “[a]ll documents received by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), to include service reviews of mefloquine prescribing practices, in response to the memorandum dated 17 January 2012, Subject: Service Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices”. In substantiation of the claim that release of the requested information would benefit the public interest, it can be demonstrated that: 1. the requestor has utilized similar information to inform both Senate testimony and invited commentary to the Food and Drug Administration on the use of mefloquine within the Department of Defense, and 2. these efforts have led to widespread media attention focusing attention on patterns of widespread misprescribing of mefloquine within the Department of Defense, and the associated health risks of such misprescribing (see, e.g. popular media stories at http://www.cbsnews.com/news/elite-army-units-to-stop-taking-anti-malarial-drug/ and http://www.cbsnews.com/news/some-us-troops-haunted-by-anti-malaria-drugs-side-effects/ where the requestor is directly quoted).
These facts reasonably substantiate that release of the requested information to the requestor would constitute an act “significantly contributing to the public’s increased understanding of the operations and activities of government”.
In accordance with 5 USC § 552 (a)(4)(A)(ii)(II), fees or FOIA requests “shall be limited to reasonable standard charges for document duplication when records are not sought for commercial use and the request is made by an educational or noncommercial scientific institution, whose purpose is scholarly or scientific research; or a representative of the news media. As such, should your agency deny my request, this requestor is nonetheless entitled to a waiver of any search fees, and the costs of your agency’s compliance with my request must be limited to the actual costs of duplication.
Although your agency has claimed the existence of 3 “unusual circumstances” justifying the extraordinary delay in responding to this request, 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(B) permits your agency only an additional 10 days to respond to my request even in the presence of such “unusual circumstances”. Additionally, on the basis of the information requested, it is questionable whether 2 of the 3 “unusual circumstances” identified by your office may reasonably apply to this particular request.
You note one “unusual circumstance” is the “potential volume of records responsive to your request. This request asks only for documents to include “service reviews of mefloquine prescribing practices” received by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) from the military services and Joint Task Force, National Capital Region-Medical, specifically in response to the OASD(HA) memorandum dated January 17, 2012. This memorandum was addressed to only four offices: 1. The Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), 2. The Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), 3. The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), and 4. The Commander, Joint Task Force, National Capital Region-Medical. It is not plausible that these four addressees, or their designees, generated a large “potential volume of records” in responding formally to the January 17, 2012 request for information. In this regard, please consider this appeal as clarification to interpret the original FOIA request as limiting the “potential volume of records responsive” to this request to the four formal replies received, together with any correspondence attached thereto.
You also note another “unusual circumstance” is the “need to search for and collect records from a facility geographically separated from this Office”. As this FOIA request asks only for those documents specifically requested by the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) in response to the January 17, 2012 memorandum, it is not plausible that these documents both: 1. would not already be organized and immediately accessible to a search of existing documents maintained by the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) , and 2: would not readily producible within the statutory period through a simple search of existing correspondence.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter.
Sincerely,
Remington Nevin
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 10, 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 #2014-151.
Thank you for your help.
From: Remington Nevin
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on my Freedom of Information request, which you have assigned reference number #2014-151, and which I originally submitted on July 10, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: Remington Nevin
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on my Freedom of Information request for "All documents received by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), to include service reviews of mefloquine prescribing practices, in response to the memorandum dated 17 January 2012, Subject: Service Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices (see: truth-out.org/files/Mefloquine-QA-Memo-JAN-2012-(Signed).pdf), which directed that results of this review be received by the OASD(HA) within 90 days of the memorandum", which you have assigned reference number 14-F-1279, and which I originally submitted on July 10, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 10, 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 #14-F-1279 ; 2014-151.
Thank you for your help.
From: Remington Nevin
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on my Freedom of Information request for "All documents received by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), to include service reviews of mefloquine prescribing practices, in response to the memorandum dated 17 January 2012, Subject: Service Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices (see: truth-out.org/files/Mefloquine-QA-Memo-JAN-2012-(Signed).pdf), which directed that results of this review be received by the OASD(HA) within 90 days of the memorandum", which you have assigned reference number 14-F-1279, and which I originally submitted on July 10, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
Dr. Remington Nevin
From: Remington Nevin
CC: charles.c.marye.civ@mail.mil
Charles Marye
OSD/JS Office of Freedom of Information
Dear Mr. Marye,
I wanted to follow up on my Freedom of Information request for "All documents received by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), to include service reviews of mefloquine prescribing practices, in response to the memorandum dated 17 January 2012, Subject: Service Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices (see: truth-out.org/files/Mefloquine-QA-Memo-JAN-2012-(Signed).pdf), which directed that results of this review be received by the OASD(HA) within 90 days of the memorandum", which you have assigned reference number 14-F-1279, and which I originally submitted on July 10, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
Dr. Remington Nevin
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 10, 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 #14-F-1279.
Thank you for your help.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 10, 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 #14-F-1279.
Thank you for your help.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 10, 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 #14-F-1279.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Remington Nevin
CC: charles.c.marye.civ@mail.mil
Charles Marye
OSD/JS Office of Freedom of Information
Dear Mr. Marye,
I wanted to follow up on my Freedom of Information request for "All documents received by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), to include service reviews of mefloquine prescribing practices, in response to the memorandum dated 17 January 2012, Subject: Service Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices (see: truth-out.org/files/Mefloquine-QA-Memo-JAN-2012-(Signed).pdf), which directed that results of this review be received by the OASD(HA) within 90 days of the memorandum", which you have assigned reference number 14-F-1279, and which I originally submitted on July 10, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
Dr. Remington Nevin
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 10, 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 #14-F-1279.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 10, 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 #14-F-1279.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 10, 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 #14-F-1279.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 10, 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 #14-F-1279.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Remington Nevin
CC: charles.c.marye.civ@mail.mil
Charles Marye
OSD/JS Office of Freedom of Information
Dear Mr. Marye,
I wanted to follow up on my Freedom of Information request for "All documents received by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), to include service reviews of mefloquine prescribing practices, in response to the memorandum dated 17 January 2012, Subject: Service Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices (see: truth-out.org/files/Mefloquine-QA-Memo-JAN-2012-(Signed).pdf), which directed that results of this review be received by the OASD(HA) within 90 days of the memorandum", which you have assigned reference number 14-F-1279, and which I originally submitted on July 10, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
Dr. Remington Nevin
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 10, 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 #14-F-1279.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Remington Nevin
CC: charles.c.marye.civ@mail.mil
Charles Marye
OSD/JS Office of Freedom of Information
Dear Mr. Marye,
I wanted to follow up on my Freedom of Information request for "All documents received by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), to include service reviews of mefloquine prescribing practices, in response to the memorandum dated 17 January 2012, Subject: Service Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices (see: truth-out.org/files/Mefloquine-QA-Memo-JAN-2012-(Signed).pdf), which directed that results of this review be received by the OASD(HA) within 90 days of the memorandum", which you have assigned reference number 14-F-1279, and which I originally submitted on July 10, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
Dr. Remington Nevin
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 10, 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 #14-F-1279.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 10, 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 #14-F-1279.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 10, 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 #14-F-1279.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense
A no responsive documents response.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 10, 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 #14-F-1279.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Remington Nevin
Defense Freedom of Information Policy Office
Attn: Mr. James Hogan
1155 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301-1155
Re: Freedom of Information Act Appeal, Case #14-F-1279
This is an appeal under the Freedom of Information Act.
I appeal the denial of records by OSD/JS in response to my request on the basis that the reason claimed for the denial (namely that another agency, the Defense Health Agency (DHA) has claimed no responsive records) is immaterial, as DHA has previously stated such records “are not Defense Health Agency records” and that consequently, such a claim of no responsive records does not obviate the OSD/JS from conducting its own thorough search for records responsive to my request.
As may be verified at the public website Muckrock (https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/service-reviews-of-mefloquine-prescribing-practices-12510/), on July 10, 2014, I submitted a request to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defence (Health Affairs) for the following:
“All documents received by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), to include service reviews of mefloquine prescribing practices, in response to the memorandum dated 17 January 2012, Subject: Service Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices (see: truth-out.org/files/Mefloquine-QA-Memo-JAN-2012-(Signed).pdf)”.
On July 24, 2014, this request was acknowledged by the Defense Health Agency (DHA) and was assigned request Control Number 2014-151 (FOIA).
On August 6, 2014, DHA responded to this request, noting:
“Since your request for all documents received by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs)…. are not Defense Health Agency records, we cannot process your FOIA request. Your request has been transferred to the OSD/JS FOIA Requester Service Center”.
On August 19, 2014, OSD/JS sent an interim response, noting their receipt of this request on August 13, 2014, and of the request being assigned case number OSD/JS 14-F-1279. This interim response noted the presence of three “unusual circumstances” that would contribute to OSD/JS not meeting the statutory time requirements for a response and resulting in my request being placed in the “complex processing queue”. OSD/JS noted these three circumstances were:
“(a) the need to search for and collect records from a facility geographically separated from this Office; (b) the potential volume of records responsive to your request; and (c) the need for consultation with one or more other agencies or DoD components having a substantial interest in either the determination or the subject matter of the records”.
Slighly less than two years later, on August 3, 2016, the OSD/HJS Office of Freedom of Information sent me a final response to request 14-F-1279, noting simply that as OSD/JS “does not have any equities in this request” and that as a result the “request is now closed”. Attached to this response was a letter, previously unreceived by the requestor, from DHA dated January 23, 2015, claiming that “no records were located” by DHA in response to my request.
As DHA had already identified in its response dated August 6, 2014 that the requested records “are not Defense Health Agency records”, and consequently forwarded the request directly to OSD/JS for action, the subsquent finding by DHA that it had “no responsive records” is entirely unsurprising and immaterial to the need for OSD/JS to conduct its own through search.
Consequently, I appeal the denial of my request on the basis that OSD/JS has failed to perform its own search, and I request that OSD/JS undertake a thorough search of its own files for documents responsive to this request. As my request was originally submitted over two years ago, I would appreciate it if this request was prioritized for action and not replaced in the complex queue, given the extraordinary delays in its completion.
In this regard, although your agency, in its response dated August 19, 2014, has claimed the existence of 3 “unusual circumstances” justifying such extraordinary delay in responding to this request, 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(B) permits your agency only an additional 10 days to respond to my request even in the presence of such “unusual circumstances”. Additionally, on the basis of the information requested, it is questionable whether 2 of the 3 “unusual circumstances” identified by your office may reasonably apply to this particular request.
You note one “unusual circumstance” is the “potential volume of records responsive to your request. This request asks only for documents to include “service reviews of mefloquine prescribing practices” received by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) from the military services and Joint Task Force, National Capital Region-Medical, specifically in response to the OASD(HA) memorandum dated January 17, 2012. This memorandum was addressed to only four offices: 1. The Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), 2. The Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), 3. The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), and 4. The Commander, Joint Task Force, National Capital Region-Medical. It is not plausible that these four addressees, or their designees, generated a large “potential volume of records” in responding formally to the January 17, 2012 request for information. In this regard, please consider this appeal as clarification to interpret the original FOIA request as limiting the “potential volume of records responsive” to this request to the four formal replies received, together with any correspondence attached thereto.
You also note another “unusual circumstance” is the “need to search for and collect records from a facility geographically separated from this Office”. As this FOIA request asks only for those documents specifically requested by the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) in response to the January 17, 2012 memorandum, it is not plausible that these documents both: 1. would not already be organized and immediately accessible to a search of existing documents maintained by the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) , and 2: would not readily producible within the statutory period through a simple search of existing correspondence.
I thank you for your attention to this appeal and will look forward to receipt of the responsive records, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Dr. Remington Nevin
From: Spear, Danaeka L CIV WHS ESD (US)
Mr. Nevin,
Good Morning. This e-mail is in response to your August 16, 2016 FOIA appeal concerning your July 10, 2014 FOIA request. I have spoken with Mrs. Stephanie Carr, the chief of the Office of Freedom of Information (OFOI), about your FOIA request. She has agreed to reopen your initial request to conduct a search for responsive records.
The OFOI action officer responsible for your request will contact you once the request has been reopened. This action will close your appeal in this office. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me directly.
Thank you,
Danaeka Spear
Chief, FOIA Appeals Office
From: Gaylord, Brandon J CIV WHS ESD (US)
Good morning Dr. Nevin,
This in response to your FOIA request 14-F-1279 and your subsequent appeal.
In our final response we stated "...our office does not have equities in this request that were not addressed by the DHA response..."
Please note that the DHA "no records" response included a search of the records for the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs). In this instance, DHA responded on behalf of the ASD for Health Affairs, therefore we have no outstanding equities.
It is possible that when you initially submitted your request, DHA was not responsible for managing the ASD/HA records, which resulted in the referral to our office.
I can understand your frustration as this request seemed to bounce around the Department of Defense.
If you have any questions please feel to give me a call.
Thank you,
Brandon J. Gaylord
Senior Advisor
OSD/JS FOIA
(571) 372-0413
........................................................................................................
Please note that the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) offers services to requesters who have disputes with Federal agencies. If you have concerns about the processing of your request, please contact OGIS at:
Office of Government Information Services
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS
College Park, MD 20740
E-mail: ogis@nara.gov
Telephone: 202-741-5770
Fax: 202-741-5769
Toll-free: 1-877-684-6448
From: Remington Nevin
Dear OSD/JS FOIA Office,
Thank you for your correspondence of September 2, 2016, in reference to my FOIA request originally dated July 10, 2014, for "[a]ll documents received by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), to include service reviews of mefloquine prescribing practices, in response to the memorandum dated 17 January 2012, Subject: Service Review of Mefloquine Prescribing Practices".
I understand from your correspondence that neither DHA, ASD(HA), nor OSD/JS have copies of the service reviews that were to have been provided to ASD(HA) by the respective services.
As this issue was at one time of significant importance to DoD, I am enclosing for the benefit of the organization, links to copies of the Army review, and the Navy and Marine Corps review, which have been provided to me via FOIA from these organizations.
The Army review may be found here: https://d3gn0r3afghep.cloudfront.net/foia_files/2016/08/24/15-F-0215_MEDCOM_release_of_the_record.pdf
The Navy review may be found here: https://d3gn0r3afghep.cloudfront.net/foia_files/2015/08/17/8-6-15_MR13521_RES.pdf
I will pursue obtaining the original Air Force review from that service. Hopefully, they will keep better records of their correspondence than DHA, ASD(HA), and OSD/JS.
I thank you for your assistance and hope that you find the documents linked above useful.
Sincerely,
Dr. Remington Nevin
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