Dallas Toxic Exposure Doctor Sues Attorney General over ‘Gag Rule’ – AG Seeks Dismissal
Miners are at high risk for toxic exposure. Miner in a mine of the “Cerro Rico” at Potosi, Bolivia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
State Attorney General is seeking the dismissal of a civil suit that claims that a medical “gag rule” violates a Dallas doctor’s constitutional right to communicate with his patients when they have been involved in certain toxic exposure environments within the gas drilling industry. The Dallas doctor claims that it puts his patients in danger, that it is too vague and was placed there for political reasons.
Citizens Voice reported that Dr. Alfonso Rodriguez filed the civil suit in July against Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer, Public Utility Commission Chairman Robert F. Powelson and state Attorney General Linda Kelly in hopes to provide better quality treatment to toxic exposure victims.
When a Dallas doctor begins to treat patients that were exposed to toxic environments – especially natural gas drilling chemicals – Act 13 of 2012 requires that they enter a confidentiality agreement prior to obtaining the chemicals’ identity and amount. The doctor states that this Act is deterrent to the medical and ethical obligations he has for his patients.
“This is not unexpected, and this is what defendants always file in response to a constitutional claim,” Rodriguez’s attorney told the publication. The suit targets Krancer, Powelson and Kelly as enforcers of Act 13, but, what is not certain is which party will be taking the responsibility to enforce the gag rule. It will take a legal battle to figure that out.
Rodriguez is no stranger to treating patients in the oil and gas industry. He is a kidney specialist by trade and treated a patient from Luzerne County who experienced issues in his system, which included renal failure after being exposed to fracking fluid at a natural gas well blowout.
Schematic of hydraulic frakturing for coal gas and shale gas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“Exposure to fracking fluid, even at very diluted concentrations, is very dangerous. It just is. I don’t think anyone disputes that,” Rossi said. “A blowout is the worst situation, because you’re coming in contact with pure fracking fluid.”
According to various sources hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” involves blasting millions of gallons of chemical-treated water deep underground to open cracks in the shale and release the gas. The chemical compound differs on the group that is fracking, but it often includes potentially harmful concoction of substances such as ammonium bisulfite, ethylbenzene, hydrochloric acid, petroleum naptha, toluene and xylene.
It is not secret that natural “gas drillers already know all the ingredients in fracking fluid, and competing companies don’t care because each uses a different recipe at each site based on local conditions”, Rossi said.
“They don’t want people to know what they’re putting into the ground. That’s why this medical gag rule is in there. It has nothing to do with proprietary information,” he said. “None of this is secret to the people in the industry. It’s a secret to the people potentially affected by this toxic brew. It’s to prevent a wider political debate.”
Act 13, which amends the state Oil & Gas Act, contains a provision that proprietary information provided to doctors in medical emergencies must be kept confidential. Rodriguez’s suit alleges the “gag rule” is too vague, too broad, and it violates health care practitioners’ rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
If you or someone you know has been in a similar situation, contact our toxic exposure attorneys for a free consultation today!
Reviewed by Chris H. in 2012.