Richard Bowen v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration

This case involves Richard Bowen’s repeated requests under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) for documents and records from the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) involving cyanide and other poison tamperings of consumer products. Bowen began his FOIA requests while charged, in a state court criminal proceeding, with a cyanide tampering incident involving Anacin-3 capsules. This charge resulted in Bowen’s conviction for attempted murder for which he is currently incarcerated.

Bowen now appeals, pro se, the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the FDA, based on the court’s conclusion that detailed agency affidavits describing the FDA’s response to Bowen’s FOIA requests properly showed that agency documents, or portions of agency documents, were properly exempted from disclosure. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

The standards for evaluating FOIA requests have been set forth as follows:

In satisfying its burden of establishing that requested documents are exempt from disclosure, the agency “may rely on affidavits submitted by its agents.” Id. at 378 . The agency is not required, however, to “specify its objections…