PA Act 13 Author Responds to Charge “Doctors Will be Gagged”

Anti-drillers who oppose the new Act 13 drilling legislation in Pennsylvania have focused on a provision in the law that they claim “gags” doctors and health care workers, preventing them from sharing information about the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing if they learn what those chemicals are in the course of treating a patient. Yes, the anti-drilling claims are convoluted and trumped up, but its all about the headlines, and the headlines (courtesy AP and others) almost all manifestly read that “Act 13 gags doctors and enforces secrecy” or some such. The legislative author of Act 13, PA Speaker of the House Sam Smith, called the allegations “outrageous” and issued the following statement yesterday:

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