Dear editor,
This is an open letter to Governor Peter Shumlin.
We request that you (Shumlin) request the immediate resignation of Commissioner of Vermont Department of Health, Dr. Harry Chen, for his attempt to influence voter decision on fluoridation by sharing misinformation in a Rutland Herald commentary dated Saturday, Feb. 20 on the issue of fluoridation in Rutland City and Proctor.
Vermont Commissioner of Health Dr. Harry Chen said: “Fluoride is not a drug.”
Correction: the FDA reports fluoride to be a drug.
Dr. Chen says: “Fluoride is not a byproduct of the fertilizer industry as some opponents claim.”
Correction: fluorosilicic acid used in Rutland to fluoridate our water is gleaned from the smokestacks of the phosphate fertilizer company named Mosaic and shipped directly by tank truck to Rutland (Jeff Wennberg can confirm this). The bill of lading obtained from town shows the product we are adding to our water also contains arsenic.
Dr. Chen should know better than to compare fluoridation to nutrients added to products, so people have a choice whether to purchase them or not. There is no nutritional requirement by the human body for fluorosilicic acid, a toxic waste added to the water supply to medicate people, some of whom cannot tolerate its toxicity.
People deserve pure water as a basic right. All of us have the right to know and approve any medication we take into our body. We should have the right to choose and not be forced by our government to drink a water contaminant that the EPA reports as a neurotoxin and endocrine disruptor.
Government officials like Dr. Harry Chen pushing fluoridation on our community with misinformation, when this policy is supposed to be a voluntary decision, leads me to believe he does not support or believe in the precautionary principle of public health, where we err on the side of safety if we are going to add water contaminants to our drinking water.
Governor Shumlin, the question to be raised is this: When the history of fluoridation in this country corrects itself, which side will you as our governor fall on, given this unique opportunity by which the entire state of Vermont is now engaged in this discussion? Medicating a population through its water system without the individual’s consent is morally wrong.
“In no case should a collective community agreement or the consent of a community leader or other authority substitute for an individual’s informed consent.” UNESCO, on bioethics, medical intervention and informed consent (2010). We now know better.
Thank you,
Kathleen Krevetski, R.N., M.A., Rutland Vt.
The question is, do you want fluoridated water or not? 39% of Rutland voters said they don’t want fluorosilic acid in their water. That is a lot of people who are being forced to drink and cook with water containing a chemical additive they do not want to ingest.
Chen is right. FDA approves labeling of fluoride in bottled water as a “nutrient mineral” not a drug.
Fluorosilicic acid (FSA) is monitored by AWWA and the Natl Sanitation Foundation with purity standards that exceed the FDA
But no one gets FSA coming out of their tap, just additional fluoride ions at a level the EPA considers safe for humans & environment.
Research shows fluoride to be an important nutrient for developing optimally strong bones/teeth:
* Oregon U’s Linus Pauling Inst does nutrition research: “If one considers the prevention of chronic disease an important criterion…then fluoride might well be considered an essential trace element.”
* Institute of Medicine recommends a daily intake for fluoride. * National Institutes of Health classifies fluoride among “minerals and essential trace elements.”
* Dept of Agriculture has fluoride in its database of nutrients.
* Amer Academy of Pediatrics: ”…an essential nutrient.”
*Detitians set an “Adequate Intake” for fluoride.
Kathleen, You are absolutely right to emphasize the issue of the right of you, the people, to decide whether or not to permit the State to medicate you and your children. It’s not just the American authorities who are misusing the scientific/medical controversy over fluoride’s supposed ‘safety and efficacy’ to fudge the arguments and prolong the debate. The issue is entirely one of human rights, and if a product is an unlicensed drug then it cannot be used, regardless of whether it actually works or not. I’ve been analyzing the legal aspects of this in the European Union (and elsewhere) for over 15 years, and its absolutely clear that fluoride, as used in fluoridation, IS a drug, and that its use is contrary to all codes of medical law around the developed world. Check out my comments at https://www.ukcaf.org/fluoridated_water_is_a_medicine.html for a short summary, especially dealing with David Shaw’s masterly recent analysis of EU and UK law with regard to fluoridation’s status.
But fluoridation isn’t “medication.” Fluoride is a common earth mineral. It already exists in ground water, but not always enough to get the full benefit of this nutrient. Fluoridation is merely the adjustment of a mineral nutrient, just as is sometimes done with other common mineral nutrients in ground water, such as calcium and iron.
James Reeves • 2 minutes ago
The 70 year old “science” of fluoride is outdated, discredited and wrong as well, but it will take time to reverse this mistake.
Recent scientific studies tell the true story. Check the following research studies showing increased cancer with fluoride.
There are many PubMed ( US National Library of Medicine®) scientific studies showing that fluoride in drinking water causes cancer. Here are a few. Go read them yourself.
A fivefold increase in bone cancer in young people:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16...
Uterine cancer mortality:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/90...
Cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx, colon and rectum, hepato-biliary
and urinary
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11...
The overwhelming majority of evidence from the 70 years of research continues to support fluoridation as safe and effective. With any scientific subject as complex as fluoridation that generates the self-inflicted paranoia displayed by anti-F activists, it is easy to cherry-pick outlier studies that support their agenda
The fact is that over 100 national and international science and health organizations (and their thousands of members – experts in their fields) — as well as six Surgeons General since 1982 — continue to SUPPORT the practice of fluoridation as a safe and effective public health policy to reduce dental decay and resulting health problems. These supporting organizations include The WHO, the AA P, the AMA and the ADA.
ilikemyteeth.org/fluoridation/why-fluoride/
Explain exactly how ALL these organizations and their representatives have been persuaded to support a public health program that, according to your propaganda is harmful and ineffective.