UPDATE – on 7/26/12 a PA Court rejected the portion of this law that forbids municipalities from limiting natural gas drilling within their boundaries.
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A dangerous new law signed by Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett takes away the rights of local governments to use zoning laws to regulate the location of natural gas drilling sites in their communities – even if those wells are adjacent to homes, schools, hospitals, parks or other public areas.
Even more concerning is a gag on doctors treating patients for suspected chemical exposure, all under the guise that the chemicals being injected into the ground are a “trade secret” –
If a health professional determines that a medical emergency exists and the specific identity and amount of any chemicals claimed to be a trade secret or confidential proprietary information are necessary for emergency treatment, the vendor, service provider or operator shall immediately disclose the information to the health professional upon a verbal acknowledgment by the health professional that the information may not be used for purposes other than the health needs asserted and that the health professional shall maintain the information as confidential. The vendor, service provider or operator may request, and the health professional shall provide upon request, a written statement of need and a confidentiality agreement from the health professional as soon as circumstances permit, in conformance with regulations promulgated under this chapter.
The Pennsylvania Medical Society has already voiced frustration that the lack or research on the health effects of fracking chemicals has crippled doctors trying to take care of patients who live or work near fracking sites.
Uncertainty prompts me to write that as a doctor, I do not know what to tell Pennsylvania patients when they ask me if hydraulic fracturing—fracking—in their neighborhood or region might affect their health.
I’ve seen anecdotal stories in the media. I’ve read as much as I could find about how the hydraulic fracturing process works. But I’m still uncertain because we lack data and research on the matter.
My colleagues in the Marcellus Shale regions tell me that they are getting questions from patients every day, such as, “I’ve had well water for many years—should I have it tested now that there’s a gas well nearby?” and “I’ve had this rash off and on for a while; could it be related to the gas well they just finished a mile or so up my road?” or “A gas well was just finished near our house; my children play nearby and even though they’re not sick right now, how will I know if they get sick from it—even years from now?”
We have no definitive answers to these questions because we lack data.
By now gagging doctors who may discover health risks of fracking chemicals, Governor Corbett and his allies in the legislature are making sure that the public is kept in the dark as to the real consequences of natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale.
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UPDATE –
The Public Record – reports on this issue. Here is what one doc they interviewed had to say –
“I have never seen anything like this in my 37 years of practice,” says Dr. Helen Podgainy, a pediatrician from Coraopolis, Pa. She says it’s common for physicians, epidemiologists, and others in the health care field to discuss and consult with each other about the possible problems that can affect various populations. Her first priority, she says, “is to diagnose and treat, and to be proactive in preventing harm to others.” The new law, she says, not only “hinders preventative measures for our patients, it slows the treatment process by gagging free discussion.”
The Atlantic Monthly has picked up the story, with some insight into how the gag order made it into the law –
The provision was not in the initial versions of the law debated in the state Senate or House in February; it was added in during conference between the two chambers, said State Senator Daylin Leach (D), which meant that many lawmakers did not even notice that this “broad, very troubling provision” had been added. “The importance of keeping it as a proprietary secret seems minimal when compared to letting the public know what chemicals they and their children are being exposed to,” Leach told Mother Jones.
this is hideous! i hope that the PA doctors (perhaps together with public health and environmental groups, and/or groups of worried citizens) can persuade a lawyer to file for an injunction.
it is not a doctor’s job to keep “trade secrets.” and the data needed to assess a patient’s risks cannot be compiled without exchanging information. and if these operations are violating existing laws — really, trade secrets trump public health?? really????
the law looks to be written to require disclosure by the corporations of chemicals used to doctors, but only for “emergency” treatment. people need to make medical decisions well before one of them is seriously ill.
kathy –
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Peggy
It is so frustrating when big business and $$$ interests win over the health and safety of people. I hope there is enough backlash from the medical community and others to get the law changed soon.
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The secrecy makes it seem like they KNOW that there are health risks and they want to keep going until they are stopped. Likely then they will declare that they don’t have the money to clean up the problem they knowingly and profitably made….something stinks!
I have never seen such a misstated mishmash of these laws -to the extent one must assume it was deliberate and you simply NEED to play the tool. For example -the law regarding doctors does NOT gag them. Doctors NEVER had a right to this information at all even to help their patients, much less a right to publicly disseminate that information. Do you really not get this one? Now these companies must reveal their formula to a doctor if that doctor says he needs it to properly treat a patient. He STILL doesn’t have a right to publicly disseminate the formula -he never did. But NOW he has a right to know what his patient may have been exposed to. THAT is what changed with this law. In this country PATENTED actually means something and if you believe you were harmed by a patented process, you sue for the harm done, not for the formula which is still NEVER going to be your property and you will never have a right to it -even if you have a right to be compensated for the harm it did you. If you believe otherwise, just stroll into Coca-Cola headquarters, demand their formula and then publicly reveal it. And hope your lawyer can get your prison sentence reduced. PATENTED PROPERTY means something -but NOW this law provides a layer of protection to patients that did not previously exist. It did NOT suddenly impose a gag on doctors when they had no right to that information previously and now STILL have no right to publicly disseminate that information. What does it take for the whackos, kooks and extremists to do a reality check on themselves?
Kathleen –
Actually, we have laws that required anyone injecting substances into our ground or near our water supply to reveal what those substances are, patented or not. They’re called the Clean Air & Clean Water Acts. But the natural gas industry got their friend Dick Cheyney to give them a loophole making them exempt from the same regulations that every other industry (and you and I) are subject to. So,unlike every other industry, they are not required to tell us what is in the fracking fluid they are injecting into our ground.
You can create anything you want, and patent it if you want, but asking me to then let you inject that INTO THE GROUND or near my water supply and then not reveal what it is? That means I don’t get a choice whether I want to be exposed to it or not. That goes against my free choice. It also threatens the environment.
I don’t see any other industry feeling the need to legislate patent protection into patient care. If there’s nothing to worry about with fracking chemicals, then why did they need to make themselves exempt from the clean air and water acts? Why need this legislation to gag doctors? This is not McDonalds protecting their secret sauce – this is an industry deliberately trying to skirt regulations that protect public safety.
There’a a rat as big as the Marcellus Shale here. How you cannot see that mystifies me.
Peggy
oh, kathleen. a patent doesn’t mean the thing they are injecting into groundwater is safe.
if your water is poisoned — the water you drink, cook with, use to irrigate the garden, wash in — do you really think that’s all OK so long as the company doing the poisoning gets to keep its patented secret? what if your kid gets sick, and lots of other people locally get sick — wouldn’t you like for there to be research into whether the special patented thing is causing the sickness?
i’ll grant there is a small upside to downstream consumers and their doctors, in that companies are required to say what they are using. but isolated disclosures do not mean much, when doctors cannot confer and research cannot be conducted about possible health risks from a particular thing affecting many people.
thanks a LOT for the lecture on patent rights trumping health. it’s a great comfort to know people can sue after they get sick — except when they can’t, really, because they need rock-solid proof (from studies that can’t be conducted because doctors and scientists can’t share information).
As my kids say, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
exactly.
Kathleen,
In addition to what was said already, I think you should learn the difference between “patented” and “trade secret”; otherwise, you sound ignorant.
Hint: patented processes are disclosed by definition – how can you patent something if you don’t describe it, send to the patent office, have their examiners look at it, make sure it’s new, etc. The full information is available, you can find it easily on the web. The patent claims clearly specified what is protected. You just cannot reproduce the invention without paying licensing fees. Even if another company comes up with the same idea/process independently, they cannot sell a product that uses what is “claimed” by the patent without buying a license from the patent holder (assuming he wants to sell). Oh, and you cannot patent a formula.
“Trade secret” isn’t the same as patent. Trade secret is something not disclosed to anybody including the patent office. The drawback here is that if someone comes up with the same idea independently, you’ll have no way of proving you were there first. A company may keep something non-patentable (e.g. formula) as trade secret or something that is not “discoverable” (i.e. they cannot discover if somebody else is using it – in this case there is no point in patenting).
BUT – in this case they are putting something in the earth next to somebody’s houses. The people whose health they endanger have a right to know what this is and if it’s going to make their kids safe. Wouldn’t you want to?
John –
Sorry I had to delete your comments.
I love that you’re participating in the discussion, but ask that you keep the discourse civil. Can you rephrase in a way that works towards a solution other than murdering politicians?
Thanks for reading!
Peggy
You can write your petitions,you can protest with your signs,you can rally with the masses,but until your ready to take the power into your own hands nothing will change.They have already declared war on us,now its our turn…
Dear Kathleen,
Watch the documentary “crude” or listen to the constant refrain from the industry that there is no evidence to support to claim that there are environmental and health impacts of certain oil industry operations. The “gag” order is designed to prevent evidence from ever coming to light.
Since when does corporate profit out weigh public safety.
OH has already leased public lands for oil exploration. Apparently Mitt Romney has now promised, that if elected President, he will open ALL PUBLIC LANDS to oil exploration.
This could mean the contamination of the aquifers underlying and supplying drinking water for the vast majority of this country. This is OUTRAGEOUS.
I have spent quite a bit of time researching the chemicals used in fracking and it seems like the only way to get any data in bulk form on fracking chemicals disclosures is from http://pivotupstreamgroup.com/D-FRAC.aspx (D-FRAC). I tried the Frac Focus site but it will only let you have info one well at a time… and there are just too many well frackings for this.
Some of the chemicals used seem benign, like guar gum, but others are known to be very toxic to the environment.