HHS Releases Highly Redacted Rescheduling Letter to DEA: An Analysis of Exemption 5 to FOIA

By Agustin Rodriquez et. al., Troutman Pepper, Dec. 12, 2023

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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently drew the ire of transparency advocates when it heavily redacted a recommendation letter to the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) concerning the rescheduling of cannabis,[3] citing Exemption 5 as justification.[4] This decision has prompted questions about the appropriate use of redactions in FOIA requests, as redactions have become a battleground for debates over the balance between necessary secrecy and the public’s right to government information. In this blog post, we will discuss Exemption 5 of FOIA and evaluate its applicability to HHS’s redaction of the bulk of the rescheduling recommendation letter.

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