Under new law, Pa. doctors can learn what's in fracking chemicals, but can't tell patients

Doctors in Pennsylvania will be able to request information about hydraulic fracturing chemicals, but won't be able to share that information with patients because of a little-known provision in a new law about natural-gas drilling in the state, Kate Sheppard of Mother Jones reports. The state has been the epicenter of gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation, and recent studies have suggested linkage between fracking and health conditions.

The law says doctors or other health professionals must sign a confidentiality agreement stating they won't disclose the fracking chemicals to anyone else if they request it. The provision wasn't in the original version of the law debated by the state Senate or House; it was added during conference committee meetings, meaning most lawmakers didn't notice it. The industry has long been able to keep chemical information secret from the public by labeling it "proprietary information," but most of the chemicals used are publicly known.

PennEnvironment Director David Masur said the threat of a lawsuit from firms for violating confidentiality agreements could scare doctors away from research on potential impacts in the state. The limits on what doctors can reveal "makes it impossible to either assuage or affirm the public's concerns about health impacts," Sheppard writes. (Read more)