The case concerns an over-20-year-old complaint from doctors arguing that President Bill Clinton's administration unlawfully fast-tracked the approval of mifepristone with a process intended to approve treatments for life-threatening illnesses. The FDA was required to respond to the complaint within 180 days, but the process has dragged on for decades. As the FDA still fails to provide relevant documents concerning its approval of mifepristone, many pro-lifers argue that it is still stonewalling this process.
Judge Elrod questioned Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sarah Harrington, legal counsel for the FDA, about when it could produce the necessary documents.
“So how soon can we get the record?” Judge asked Harrington, saying it “seems like something we would want to know about.”
“I can go back and talk to my clients. I don’t think it's going to be imminent,” Harrington responded.
Judge Elrod then asked in an annoyed tone, “Can you produce it in stages if you can’t produce it all at once? Is it a secret? I mean it’s the record, right?”
“It’s not a secret, it’s like in cold storage somewhere,” the Harrington said.
“But – I mean you’ve probably have brought it out of storage by now because you have a big national case on it,” Judge Elrod said.
“I know it’s frustrating,” Harrington said, “I don’t have anything more specific to tell you,” Harrington said.
