UPDATE (Jan 20 2012): A second decision further reinforces the recommendation.

Brigitte Alfter posts to the Wobbing EU mailing list about the EU Ombudsman’s recommendation that the European Medicines Agency disclose documents on adverse reactions to a particular medicine.The EMA had previously refused a request for access on the grounds that “it needed to protect commercial interests,” according to press release on the decision which explains:

“The Ombudsman’s investigation led him to conclude that the documents in question did not contain commercially confidential information, but that personal data contained in the reports needed to be removed before disclosure. EMA eventually followed the Ombudsman’s recommendation to disclose the documents, after removing personal data.”

As Brigitte notes: “Ever thought about side effects of medicines? … Maybe there are loads of good stories to come in the open now?”