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NIH could not withhold records under exemption for trade secrets

43 F.Supp.2d 70 United States District Court, District of Columbia. IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS, Plaintiff, v. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Defendants. Civil Action No. 04-1571 (CKK). April 14, 2008. Background: Animal rights organization brought Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case against the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeking information related to approximately 260 chimpanzees located at facility in New Mexico. The District Court issued an order granting in part and denying in part the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment. NIH filed a motion for partial reconsideration of order requiring it to search the facility for clinical chimpanzee files and to release certain other previously-withheld documents. Holdings: The District Court, Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, J., held that: (1) clinical files were agency records subject to FOIA; (2) NIH could not withhold records under exemption for trade secrets and commercial or financial information; (3) NIH could not withhold information under exemption for personnel and medical files; and (4) NIH could not withhold information under exemption for materials related solely to internal personnel rules and practices of an agency. Motion for partial reconsideration denied.

Full post as published by The Trade Secrets Vault on June 04, 2008 (boomark / email).