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Sunday, May 3, 2020

Corornavirus: PA "Right To Know" Requests

A bit of background first:

A few years ago I was involved with FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests related to the FDA and vaping (see: https://lwgat.blogspot.com/2018/11/fda-foia-response-3.html).

Though the FDA effectively crushed vaping (in cahoots with along with states like Pennsylvania) they knew that the principles vaping relied on would work to stop the use of "combustion" tobacco. Nicotine itself is neither a carcinogen nor addictive yet the very idea that something "like" a cigarette could halt the use of cigarettes was so foreign they couldn't accept it.  (Look back in this blog for more info if you are interested.)

Ironically, a few days ago a Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos involved in the original vaping fight published a paper on how smokers unusually under-represented as Covid19 victims (see: https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200430/smokers-hospitalized-less-often-for-covid-19 and https://www.qeios.com/read/Z69O8A.13)

Moving forward...



Today I filed a number of Pennsylvania "Right to Know" (https://www.openrecords.pa.gov/index.cfm) requests related to Covid19 and the various lockdowns "recommendations" from the Department of Health.

PA RTK is similar to FOIA. 

They have a web page here (https://www.openrecords.pa.gov/RTKL/AOROSearch.cfm) where you can identify individuals within the state government responsible for responding.  You can browse the rest of this sight if you are interested in RTK.

(Please note that the people listed here are not your enemies.  The have a job to do and, in my experience, they do their best.  Also understand they are not there to answer questions; only to provide specific data which you must request as concisely and clearly as you can.)

I made requests of the PA Department of Health as follows (summarized below excluding all the surrounding red tape required to file):

DOH1: All scientific and medical information, supporting evidence, records, guidance, data, communications, and email justifying and utilized in the forming of the order "to protect the public from the spread of Covid-19" set forth in the Department of Health document (4/15/2020) "Order of the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health Directing Public Health Safety Measures for Businesses Permitted to Maintain In-person Operations" https://www.governor.pa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/20200415-SOH-worker-safety-order.pdf.

DOH2: All scientific and medical information, supporting evidence, records, guidance, data, communications, and email justifying and utilized in the substantiating the claim of “public health  emergency" set forth in the Governor's order (3/23/2020) "ORDER OF THE GOVERNOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA FOR INDIVIDUALS TO STAY AT HOME" "https://www.governor.pa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/03.23.20-TWW-COVID-19-Stay-at-Home-Order.pdf

DOH3: All scientific and medical information, supporting evidence, records, guidance, data, communications, and email justifying and utilized in the forming of the specific order "To protect the public from the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19)" set forth in the Department of Health document (4/15/2020) "Order of the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health to Stay at Home" https://www.governor.pa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/03.23.20-SOH-Stay-at-Home-Order.pdf.

DOH4: All scientific and medical information, supporting evidence, software, records, guidance, data, communications, verification and auditing processes, web logs, operational logs, and email describing, documenting and implementing the "data driven" approach described as "a modeling dashboard under development and evaluation by Carnegie Mellon University to take a regional and sector-based approach to reopenings, the easing of restrictions, and response." defined in https://www.governor.pa.gov/process-to-reopen-pennsylvania/#A.

DOHEC1: State financial, revenue, and tax information, analysis and projections, records, guidance, data, communications, and email related to the economic impact to residents and businesses of the order "to protect the public from the spread of Covid-19" set forth in the Department of Health document (4/15/2020) "Order of the Secretary ... Permitted to Maintain In-person Operations" https://www.governor.pa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/20200415-SOH-worker-safety-order.pdf.

DOHEC2: State financial, revenue, and tax information, analysis and projections, records, guidance, data, communications, and email related to the economic impact to residents and businesses to the states response to the “public health  emergency" set forth in the Governor's order (3/23/2020) "ORDER OF THE GOVERNOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA FOR INDIVIDUALS TO STAY AT HOME" "https://www.governor.pa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/03.23.20-TWW-COVID-19-Stay-at-Home-Order.pdf

DOHEC3: State financial, revenue, and tax information, analysis and projections, records, guidance, data, communications, and email related to the economic impact to residents and businesses of order "To protect the public from the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19)" set forth in the Department of Health document (4/15/2020) "Order of the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health to Stay at Home" https://www.governor.pa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/03.23.20-SOH-Stay-at-Home-Order.pdf.

DOHEC4: State financial, revenue, and tax information, analysis and projections, records, guidance, data, communications, and email related to the economic impact to residents and businesses of from the utilization of "a modeling dashboard under development and evaluation by Carnegie Mellon University to take a regional and sector-based approach to reopenings, the easing of restrictions, and response." defined in https://www.governor.pa.gov/process-to-reopen-pennsylvania/#A.

DOHEC5: State financial, revenue, and tax information, analysis and projections, records, guidance, data, communications, and email related to the economic impact to residents and businesses of from the utilization of "a modeling dashboard under development and evaluation by Carnegie Mellon University to take a regional and sector-based approach to reopenings, the easing of restrictions, and response." defined in https://www.governor.pa.gov/process-to-reopen-pennsylvania/#A.

The following were requested from the PA Department of Revenue:

REV1: State financial, revenue, and tax information, analysis and projections, records, guidance, data, communications, and email related to the impact on state revenue due to the order "to protect the public from the spread of Covid-19" set forth in the Department of Health document (4/15/2020) "Order of the Secretary ... Permitted to Maintain In-person Operations" https://www.governor.pa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/20200415-SOH-worker-safety-order.pdf.

REV2: State financial, revenue, and tax information, analysis and projections, records, guidance, data, communications, and email related to the impact on state revenue due to the “public health  emergency" set forth in the Governor's order (3/23/2020) "ORDER OF THE GOVERNOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA FOR INDIVIDUALS TO STAY AT HOME" "https://www.governor.pa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/03.23.20-TWW-COVID-19-Stay-at-Home-Order.pdf

REV3: State financial, revenue, and tax information, analysis and projections, records, guidance, data, communications, and email related to the impact on state revenue due to the order "To protect the public from the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19)" set forth in the Department of Health document (4/15/2020) "Order of the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health to Stay at Home" https://www.governor.pa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/03.23.20-SOH-Stay-at-Home-Order.pdf.

REV4: State financial, revenue, and tax information, analysis and projections, records, guidance, data, communications, and email related to the impact on state revenue due to the utilization of "a modeling dashboard under development and evaluation by Carnegie Mellon University to take a regional and sector-based approach to reopenings, the easing of restrictions, and response." defined in https://www.governor.pa.gov/process-to-reopen-pennsylvania/#A.

REV5: State financial, revenue, and tax information, analysis and projections, records, guidance, data, communications, and email related to the impact on state revenue due to Covid-19 state response defined in https://www.governor.pa.gov/process-to-reopen-pennsylvania/#A

This is only a start...  There are a lot of bread crumbs to follow in all this.

They have five business days to comply but most likely they will ask for "more time..."

We shall see...

I will publish what I discover.

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