DEA ordered to release docs in FOIA lawsuit

PROVIDENCE – A federal judge on Sept. 16 ordered the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to release thousands of pages of documents in support of an ACLU of Rhode Island Freedom of Information Act lawsuit on behalf of journalist Philip Eil.

The case involved evidence used to convict Dr. Paul Volkman, found guilty in 2011 after a federal court trial in Ohio of prescribing medications that caused the overdose deaths of four patients. In 2012, Volkman was sentenced to four consecutive life terms in federal prison.

U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell, Jr., in ordering release of the documents, wrote: “Public scrutiny of the workings of government – including the judiciary – is vitally important to the proper functioning of our democracy.” •

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