U.S. Army PHC Toxicology Portfolio Documents related to Mefloquine

To Whom It May Concern:

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

All documents produced by the U.S. Army Public Health Command’s Army Institute of Public Health (AIPH) Toxicology Portfolio between July 1, 2013 and the effective date of this request, describing or referencing the results of any basic or applied research conducted by the Portfolio concerning the antimalarial drug mefloquine.

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:

This is a request for confirmation of receipt of the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on September 29, 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 Aug. 29, 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:

The FOIA request copied below was sent via email to the United States Army Public Health Command at USACHPPM-FOIA@amedd.army.mil and foia.medcom@amedd.army.mil on September 29, 2014. It has yet to receive acknowledgement. A follow up containing a copy of the request was sent to foia.medcom@amedd.army.mil on October 24, 2014; another was sent on November 24, 2014.

Please now note the following:

MuckRock News
DEPT MR 13192
PO Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819

requests@muckrock.com

Please confirm receipt of this request and provide an estimated date of completion forthwith.

Thank you.
________________________________

From Remington Nevin on Sept. 29, 2014:
To Whom It May Concern:

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

All documents produced by the U.S. Army Public Health Command’s Army Institute of Public Health (AIPH) Toxicology Portfolio between July 1, 2013 and the effective date of this request, describing or referencing the results of any basic or applied research conducted by the Portfolio concerning the antimalarial drug mefloquine.

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

Hello,

Numerous attempts have been made to contact your office regarding the FOIA request copied below. Please note all attached communications. Please confirm receipt of this request and provide an estimated date of completion forthwith.

Thank you for your help.

_____________________________

From Remington Nevin on Sept. 29, 2014:
To Whom It May Concern:

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

All documents produced by the U.S. Army Public Health Command’s Army Institute of Public Health (AIPH) Toxicology Portfolio between July 1, 2013 and the effective date of this request, describing or referencing the results of any basic or applied research conducted by the Portfolio concerning the antimalarial drug mefloquine.

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

Commander,
U.S. Army Medical Command
ATTN: Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts Office
2748 Worth Road
Fort Sam Houston, Texas 78234-6021
Re: FOIA Request dated September 29, 2014, subject: “U.S. Army PHC Toxicology Portfolio Documents related to Mefloquine”

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. Army Public Health Command on September 29, 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/us-army-phc-toxicology-portfolio-documents-related-to-mefloquine-13192/, a FOIA request for “[a]ll documents produced by the U.S. Army Public Health Command’s Army Institute of Public Health (AIPH) Toxicology Portfolio between July 1, 2013 and the effective date of this request, describing or referencing the results of any basic or applied research conducted by the Portfolio concerning the antimalarial drug mefloquine.”) was submitted by email to USAPHC-FOIA@amedd.army.mil on September 29, 2014, with follow-ups sent by email to foia.medcom@amedd.army.mil on October 24, 2014 and November 24, 2014.

It may be demonstrated that U.S. Army Public Health Command has received this request, based on a “tweet” sent from the Twitter account “@USAPHC” belonging to the U.S. Army Public Health Command on November 26, 2014 to the requestor at his private Twitter account “@RemingtonNevin” (see: https://twitter.com/USAPHC/status/537659524908601345) stating “We've completed the searches on these requests. Need an address to send them to.”

Although full postal return mailing addresses for this and other requests were clearly contained in the original request, additional emails were then sent on November 26, 2014 to foia.medcom@amedd.army.mil and USACHPPM-FOIA@amedd.army.mil listing full postal return address for the requestor.

Given USAPHC’s informal acknowledgement of this request, and its apparent completion of the search, I hereby request that your office immediately acknowledge this request, and release any responsive documents as the FOIA statute clearly requires.

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 your response to my original request no later than January 15, 2015.

Sincerely,

Remington Nevin

Ms. Audrey Gail Gibson, FOIA Office
Chief, Publications Management Division
U.S. Army Public Health Command
5158 Blackhawk Road
Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21010-5403
410-436-3254
Email: Audrey.g.gibson.civC@mail.mi

Dear Ms. Gibson,

On September 29, 2014, I submitted a request under the FOIA for “[a]ll documents produced by the U.S. Army Public Health Command’s Army Institute of Public Health (AIPH) Toxicology Portfolio between July 1, 2013 and the effective date of this request, describing or referencing the results of any basic or applied research conducted by the Portfolio concerning the antimalarial drug mefloquine”.

As may be confirmed at the public website MuckRock (https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/us-army-phc-toxicology-portfolio-documents-related-to-mefloquine-13192/), this request was not immediately acknowledged by your office and has remained unacknowledged despite 4 separate requests for acknowledgement sent October 24, 2014; November 24, 2014; November 26, 2014; and November 30, 2014.

On the basis of this non-response, a formal appeal of your office’s constructive denial of this request was submitted to the Commander, U.S. Army Medical Command, on December 16, 2014, for forwarding as appropriate to the Department of the Army. This appeal remains unacknowledged as of the present date.

While this appeal is pending, I would request that your office formally acknowledge receipt, and begin processing this request, as the statute requires.

I look forward to receiving your response by February 28, 2015.

Sincerely,

Dr. Remington Nevin