Federal government stonewalls request for Lyme information; filmmakers submitted FOIA paperwork 4 years ago, CDC still won't com
Posted Mar 09 2011 7:06am
Four years ago, the producers of the Lyme documentary UNDER OUR SKIN submitted a Freedom of Information Act request regarding possible conflicts of interest involving three CDC employees who control health policy for Lyme disease. That request is still unanswered. Read what the filmmakers' blog has to say about this.
From the UNDER OUR SKIN blog:
On June 26, 2007, we, the producers of the documentary, “Under Our Skin,” submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to investigate possible conflicts-of-interest of three Centers for Disease Control (CDC) employees who control public health policy for Lyme disease. Almost four years later, we’re still waiting for this information, and we’ve just learned that our request is among the ten oldest unfulfilled requests awaiting action at the CDC’s parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a federal law that establishes the public’s right to obtain information from federal government agencies. The basic purpose of FOIA is to “ensure an informed citizenry, vital to the functioning of a democratic society, needed to check against corruption and to hold the governors accountable to the governed.”
For the purposes of our documentary, this FOIA request is essential in answering some of the most puzzling questions surrounding Lyme disease — why has the CDC been endorsing an outdated symptom list and unreliable testing protocol on their website? Why has the CDC been underreporting Lyme cases for the last decade? Are these CDC employees really working in the interest of the tax-paying public or are they being influenced by hidden commercial influences?
Four years ago, the producers of the Lyme documentary UNDER OUR SKIN submitted a Freedom of Information Act request regarding possible conflicts of interest involving three CDC employees who control health policy for Lyme disease. That request is still unanswered. Read what the filmmakers' blog has to say about this.
From the UNDER OUR SKIN blog:
On June 26, 2007, we, the producers of the documentary, “Under Our Skin,” submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to investigate possible conflicts-of-interest of three Centers for Disease Control (CDC) employees who control public health policy for Lyme disease. Almost four years later, we’re still waiting for this information, and we’ve just learned that our request is among the ten oldest unfulfilled requests awaiting action at the CDC’s parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a federal law that establishes the public’s right to obtain information from federal government agencies. The basic purpose of FOIA is to “ensure an informed citizenry, vital to the functioning of a democratic society, needed to check against corruption and to hold the governors accountable to the governed.”
For the purposes of our documentary, this FOIA request is essential in answering some of the most puzzling questions surrounding Lyme disease — why has the CDC been endorsing an outdated symptom list and unreliable testing protocol on their website? Why has the CDC been underreporting Lyme cases for the last decade? Are these CDC employees really working in the interest of the tax-paying public or are they being influenced by hidden commercial influences?
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