Appeals Court to Review UNC-Chapel Hill’s Role in COVID-19 Records Lawsuit
The North Carolina Court of Appeals is set to examine a lawsuit regarding the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s (UNC) involvement in the origins of COVID-19. The case was initiated by the nonprofit investigative group US Right to Know, which seeks access to public records concerning Dr. Ralph Baric’s research and his connections to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
According to US Right to Know, the matter carries significant public interest, particularly as over one million Americans have died from COVID-19. Their request for records, initially filed in July 2020, highlighted that Dr. Baric received more than $200 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1986, raising questions about accountability and transparency.
The university identified over 336,000 pages of documents but ultimately provided only six pages from a crucial timeframe—March 20, 2019, to January 9, 2020. UNC cited a "research exemption," claiming the withheld documents were proprietary and thus not subject to public disclosure.
US Right to Know has submitted multiple records requests since 2020. After filing a lawsuit in April 2022, a lower court sided with UNC’s interpretation of the exemption. The plaintiffs contend that the trial court has applied an overly broad definition of "proprietary," which undermines the purpose of North Carolina’s Public Records Act.
The plaintiff’s legal team argues that public records, generated with taxpayer money, should be accessible unless there is a compelling reason to withhold them. They assert that the General Assembly intended to limit exemptions to protect trade secrets, and that the trial court’s broader interpretation essentially restricts access to information vital for public insight into university research.
The case will focus on whether the records should be disclosed, potentially addressing broader implications regarding transparency in public health research.
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