Petition to the FDA to Revoke its Policy Regarding Minor Deletions from Documents Requested Under the Freedom of Information Act
The Food and Drug Administration must stop its longstanding practice of redacting portions of documents released to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requesters without giving requesters an immediate right to appeal within the agency. The practice violates FOIA because “minor deletions” from requested documents are not considered formal denials of information requests and, therefore, do not trigger a requester’s immediate right to appeal.