The Freedom Coalition of Doctors for Choice has recently filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) after being denied access to information following a Freedom of Information request (FOI) for all V-Safe text entries. V-Safe is a smartphone-based platform introduced by the CDC during the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, allowing individuals to report potential side effects.
In the initial week following vaccination, users received daily text messages inquiring about their well-being. These messages contained a link to V-safe, where users could log in and answer follow-up questions. Participants who chose to continue received weekly check-in messages for up to 5 weeks. The CDC would then initiate follow-up with individuals based on their responses.
The subject of the lawsuit and part of the Freedom of Information request were the text responses provided by participants. Each V-safe check-in asked participants about symptoms, offering 12 different checkboxes including chills, headache, joint pain, muscle or body aches, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, rash, or none. In addition to the checkboxes, participants could provide a text response of up to 250 characters.
The CDC argued that fulfilling the information request would burden the agency. However, Texas District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled in favor of the Freedom Coalition of Doctors for Choice. He stated that while the burden to produce the requested free-text responses may be heavy, it is not unreasonable.
As a result of the ruling, the CDC is now required to produce the requested 7.8 million text responses over the next 12 months, starting on February 15, 2024. This decision ensures that the information will be made available to the Freedom Coalition of Doctors for Choice.
For more details on the ruling, you can review the document. This ruling marks an important victory for transparency and access to information, allowing organizations to hold government agencies accountable and ensure the public's right to know.
