> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.fdaweb.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Appeals Court Affirms Dismissal of FOIA Case
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/appeals-court-affirms-dismissal-of-foia-case/
- Published: 2022-08-09T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T17:55:14.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5152470

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the decision of a New York federal court to grant summary judgment to FDA and Sarepta Therapeutics in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case. The appeals court [decision](https://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/bdd3e14e-d014-467e-9568-d7beb14be1c5/8/doc/20-4072%5Fopn.pdf?ref=fdaweb.com#xml=https://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/bdd3e14e-d014-467e-9568-d7beb14be1c5/8/hilite/) says science writer and journalism professor **Charles Seife** sought records from FDA relating to Sarepta’s successful application for accelerated approval of Exondys 51 to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The court says FDA produced over 45,000 pages of documents, some of which were redacted under FOIA Exemption.

Seife appealed after a New York federal district court granted summary judgment to FDA and Sarepta on the basis that the redacted information fell within Exemption 4 and its publication would either cause foreseeable harm to the interests protected by the Exemption or was prohibited by law.

The appeals court held that the interests protected by Exemption 4 are the company’s commercial or financial interests in information that is of a type held in confidence and not disclosed to any member of the public by the person to whom it belongs.

“Because defendants have shown as a matter of law that the contested information falls within Exemption 4 and that disclosure would foreseeably harm Sarepta’s commercial or financial interests, we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment for defendants and denial of summary judgment for Seife,” the appeals court said.