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New Jersey Rejects Request For Dolphin Necropsy Results, Cites "Medical Privacy" (muckrock.com)
v3rgEz writes: When a dolphin died in New Jersey's South River last year, Carly Sitrin wanted to know what killed it. So she filed a public record request to the NJ Department of Agriculture in order to get the necropsy results. The DOA finally responded last week with the weird decision to deny the release of the record on grounds of medical privacy. The response reads in part: "We are in receipt of your request for information (#W101407) under the auspices of the State’s
Open Public Records Act (O.P.R.A.). Specifically, you requested any and all reports associated with the necropsy of the dolphin that
strayed into the South River on August 5, 2015 in Middlesex County, New Jersey. This request
is denied as it would release information deemed confidential under O.P.R.A., specifically
information related to a medical diagnosis or evaluation. (E.O. 26, McGreevey)"
Let's hope when Governor Christie eats his next cow, nobody will tell him that it has mad cow's disease, since that would violate the privacy of the dead cow.
That has to be it right, the results would show how toxic the water is, forcing the state to step in and clean it up. That's the only logical reason for denying this request.
Sounds to me like someone just didn't want to go through the administrative hassle of gathering the information, copying it, and handing it over. Obviously, that shouldn't be allowed unless the DOA can provide some evidence that it will compromise the privacy of an actual person.
Okay, I beg the pardon of the PETA folks (actually no I don't...*Kicks a kitten*).
But it's a fucking animal that died in public waterway and was autopsied on the public dime.
People who wish to know have a right to that information.
I want to know what mental defective thought "medical privacy" was an appropriate excuse.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
just sounds fishy to me.
How would you like to respond to this request for information:
[1] Provide information
[2] Deny information
Congratulations! You've decided to "Deny information".
What kind of form letter would you like to respond with:
[1] Military secret
[2] Medical privacy
[3] Area 51-related incident
[4] The dog ate our report
[5] Major government coverup of unspecified nature
Do you wish to include additional information?
[1] No
[2] Yes
Please enter additional information:
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
Ready to send?
[1] No
[2] Yes
www.sjbaker.org
but it's mermaids...
Wheel of Time: Book by Book and Sumview (summary review) Bigdady92 style: http://bigdady92.blogspot.com/
As a DOA manager, and having overseen part of the autopsy, I can tell you with all certainty that medical privacy is of tyhe utmost importance. Lets face it: you know it, I know it, the world knows it. The south river is about as healthy as a bullet to the head, but many people dont yet know how awful its become outside of the realm of its recent acclaim from the guinness book of records for "most likely to spread an epidemic plague of black death and ebola." For example, did you know that the south river is now viscous enough to float a bowling ball? or did you know that on a cold winters day you can huddle near its many eddies and currents for warmth from its innumerable short and long bursts of radiation as a byproduct of its constant brush with nuclear criticality? Many of my employees tell stories of how after misplacing their cigarette lighter they simply dip the end of a marlborough into the river instead. And lets not get started on "the voices" that compelled nearly two dozen virgin women to enter the deep, never to return.
trust me. things are well under control and you needn't worry yourself with frivolous reports of the 300 foot tall "dolphin" with "spiderlike appendages" now roaming the countryside in search of "blood and bone." Having communicated with us telephathically it has been very stern in its demand for medical privacy both in words and in the uncontrollable nosebleeds affecting our newborns.
Good people go to bed earlier.
...the Dolphins leave and say "So long, and thanks for all the fish."
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
speaking of laziness... if you had bothered to read the article, you would see that it quotes the regulation, and that the relevant text is "information concerning individuals." individual is a pretty common & well-defined legal term meaning a human person (or, rarely, artificial persons like corporations). I don't recall any legal precedent granting dolphins personhood, so this is very clearly a misapplication of law.
1. Relatively few dolphins can read English, though the New Jersey ESL program is working on that.
2. Because the dolphin version of the HIPAA consent form is printed on those waterproof pads that divers use to write notes to each other, many individuals have experienced trouble holding a grease pencil in their mouths and writing a legible signature at the bottom of the form. Furthermore, individuals with the requisite agility to accomplish this task tend not to be the dolphins who can read the form in the first place.
3. In dolphin culture, only the alpha bull of a pod has the legal authority to sign for the release of medical data on a deceased podmate. In the specific case at hand, the NJ Department of Agriculture was unable to obtain a validly signed release.
4. The head of the NJ DoA, Jerry "Three Fingers" Fibonacci, is under indictment for bribing certain dolphin pod chieftains, using prime tuna from his seafood processing business, to ignore reporting of river pollution in the state of New Jersey. He is suspected of involvement in this specific case. But even if Fibonacci is eventually convicted, legal questions about the translation accuracy of dolphin testimony are intricate enough that they may have to be resolved by the SCOTUS.
Schoelkopf [founding director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center] says his organization euthanized the dolphin and paid the state of New Jersey to perform the necropsy. The results of the necropsy were released to his organization, which expressly asked the state to not publicly reveal its findings. He said because of the controversial nature of dolphin euthanasia, the organization wanted to keep the findings private.
http://motherboard.vice.com/re...
That doesn't excuse the idiots responding for the state, but does clear up the dolphin question.