COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Doctors given new access to the proprietary chemical recipes that oil and gas drillers use to crack into Ohio shale would be prohibited from sharing the information with the public under an energy proposal moving through the Ohio House.
Environmentalists liken the restriction to a gag order on medical professionals. Drilling companies say it's necessary to protect trade secrets.
On Tuesday, the Ohio State Medical Association, Ohio's largest doctors' group, said the wording of the provision could keep physicians from complying with mandates for public-health reporting.
"The OSMA strongly believes that physicians should have access to all of the relevant information needed to deliver high-quality medical care to their patients," senior director of government relations Tim Maglione wrote in a letter to Public Utilities Chairman Peter Stautberg. "This information also needs to be shared with other medical providers who are contributing to caring for a patient."
The association urged lawmakers to clarify the provision so that chemical trade secrets can be shared with public health and regulatory agencies. Environmental groups testified earlier the wording could also prevent doctors from sharing chemical information with first responders to chemical spills at well sites.
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