UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA NEIL ANAND, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Civil Action No. 21-1635 (CKK) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, et al., Defendants. MEMORANDUM OPINION (March 27, 2023) This lawsuit arises from Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) requests made by pro se Plaintiffs Neil Anand and Lesly Pompy to Defendants United States Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”)’ Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) and Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”). Plaintiffs Anand and Pompy are physicians who were indicted on multiple criminal counts, including health care fraud and the distribution of controlled substances. See Compl., ECF No. 1 at 8; Defs.’ Mot. at 1. To aid in defense of their criminal prosecutions, Plaintiff Anand submitted FOIA requests to both HHS and DEA, and Plaintiff Pompy submitted a FOIA request just to DEA. After the agencies conducted their searches and made numerous withholdings, Plaintiffs then filed a Complaint seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to compel Defendants to produce certain records. See Compl. at 8, 11. Before the Court is Defendants’ [59] Motion for Summary Judgment against both Plaintiffs Pompy and Anand. This Opinion addresses only Defendants’ Motion as against Plaintiff Anand. Plaintiff Anand opposes Defendants’ Motion but has not filed a cross-motion for summary judgment. 1 Upon review of the pleadings,1 the relevant legal authorities, and the record as a whole, the Court will GRANT-IN-PART and DENY-IN-PART Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment as against Plaintiff Anand. The Court will GRANT the Motion as to Anand’s FOIA request to OIG for “[a]ll information concerning data analytics algorithms used in the Pill Mill Doctor Project, all reports and work product generated by contractor Qlarant corporation concerning the Pill Mill Doctor Project, statement of work and official contract of Qlarant corporation… [and] all reports of OIG concerning Neil Anand or Institute of Advanced Medicine and Surgery,” having found OIG’s search to be adequate and withholdings justified. The Court will GRANT the Motion as to Anand’s FOIA request to DEA. However, the Court will DENY the Motion as to Anand’s FOIA request to OIG for “all reports from Blue Cross Blue Shield corporation to OIG concerning improper prescribing of opiates by specific physicians” because OIG did not notify Anand that his request did not reasonably describe the records sought, as required by regulation or, alternatively, did not provide sufficient explanation as to why a search for this request would be burdensome. I. BACKGROUND On September 19, 2019, a grand jury indicted Plaintiff Neil Anand on multiple criminal counts, including health care fraud and the distribution of controlled substances. See Defs.’ Mot. at 1; United States v. Anand, Crim. A. No. 19-0518 (E.D. Pa.). Anand thereafter filed two FOIA requests, described below. A. Anand’s FOIA Request to HHS OIG 1 The Court’s consideration has focused on the following: • Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 59 (“Defs.’ Mot.”); • Plaintiffs’ Response and Opposition to Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 64 (“Pls.’ Opp’n”); • Defendants’ Reply Memorandum …
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