| December 1, 2004 Vol.5, No.24:
|
Court Dismisses First Data Quality Act Case
In the first Data Quality Act case to be handled by the courts, a U.S. District Court has ruled that challenges under the DQA and its subsequent guidelines to agencies are not judicially reviewable. A previous court decision addressed the issue of reviewability, but the legal claim in that case was not limited to data quality.
On Nov. 15, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed a case brought by the Salt Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce against the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) over statements about the health benefits from lower sodium diets. In reviewing the government's motion to dismiss the suit, the judge, Gerald Bruce Lee, ruled that the Salt Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce lacked legal standing to claim injury in a federal court, concluded that the DQA provides "no private right of action," and determined that the key data is not subject to judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act.
See OMB Watch's full analysis of the court decision.