BSL-4 Lab Worker - Photo Credit –USAMRIID
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Last year, during the months-long debate over the publication of Ron Fouchier’s controversial H5N1 GOF (Gain of Function) studies (see Science Publishes The Fouchier Ferret Study), the Dutch government announced that they had jurisdiction over what scientific papers could be `exported’ from the Netherlands, sparking a heated side-debate over government censorship of science (see Fouchier Research To be Debated In The Netherlands This Week).
Finally, in April of 2012 the Dutch Govt. Granted Fouchier Export License For H5N1 Research, paving the way for its publication. But the debate over how much control the Dutch government legally has over the dissemination of scientific publications then moved to the courts.
Yesterday, Martin Enserink writing for Science Insider, broke the details of a Dutch court decision, which ruled against Fouchier, and for the government. Follow the link to read it in its entirety.
Flu Researcher Ron Fouchier Loses Legal Fight Over H5N1 Studies
25 September 2013 2:45 pm
National Institutes of Health
Dismissed. A Dutch court has rejected a challenge to rules that required researchers to get an export permit before sending papers on the H5N1 avian influenza virus (above) to the U.S.-based journal Science.
Virologist Ron Fouchier has suffered a loss in a legal battle with the Dutch government over the publication of his controversial H5N1 influenza research. On Friday, a Dutch district court ruled that the government was right to ask Fouchier to obtain an export license before sending two hotly debated papers out for publication. The ruling, published yesterday (Dutch), could provide new roadblocks for Fouchier’s research in the future.
