FAN Bulletin 766
Feb 12, 2007

Dear All,

There are at least two prongs to the continued deception of the public on behalf of those who zealously promote fluoridation. Firstly, for those not willing to think or read anything for themselves, there is the bogus “authority” of the CDC, and the health agencies and officials they influence (and virtually control on this issue), and secondly, is all the influence that money can buy. And in the US, money can buy a lot. For the latest example of the deception that money can buy in Skagit County see the advertisement which appeared in the Skagit Valley Herald  http://www.skagitcleanwater.org/editorials/SVH070211–Healthy-Skagit.html.  In this the pro-fluoridation lobby in Skagit County has reproduced the dreadful and insulting editorial which appeared in the Oregonian and featured in FAN bulletin 752: Another unprofessional editorial.

In this bulletin we see examples of both prongs in play.

First, thanks to Don Johnson of Skagit County, Washington, for sending us two items from Skagit County, Washington, which shows the influence of big money on small communities. The first item is an advertisement which appeared in the Skagit Valley Herald  http://www.skagitcleanwater.org/editorials/SVH070211–Healthy-Skagit.html.  
In this the pro-fluoridation lobby in Skagit County has reproduced the dreadful and insulting editorial which appeared in the Oregonian and featured in FAN bulletin 752: Another unprofessional editorial. The second item is a first hand account from one of the lobbyists who orchestrated the three year effort to win “establishment” endorsement of fluoridation in that county (see below).

Second, thanks to John Graham, of the National Pure water Association and a UK rep for the FAN Mobilization team, for sending us more information about the conference organized at tax payers’ expense in Manchester on 31 January 2007 by the National Fluoridation Information center (NFIC) (see FAN bulletin #753). This conference presented NO speakers opposed to fluoridation and only allowed one pure water campaigner (Ian Packington) to attend.
 
John writes: “Local pure water groups were declined tickets and told they would be put on a waiting list.  There were 12 empty seats on the day.  The NFIC, set-up by the UK Department of Health, claims to be ‘academically independent’.  Ian is putting the finishing touches to a report on proceedings at this fluorodista jamboree and we’ll get it to you as soon as possible.”

Third, thanks to Carol Kopf of NYSCOF, for forwarding us a newspaper report from Corning, NY where the Mayor has organized another stacked “information” meeting for citizens to ask questions to a panel of pro-fluoridation health and dental “experts”. Now if you meet mayor Coccho, which I have now done four times, he is a very pleasant fellow. He bends over backwards to give one the impression that he is very fair, and then he does things which make that impression very hard to believe.

This is not the first time he has allowed only one side a whole session to give their views - SOLO. Oh yes, he did allow me to travel five hours and scrounge 3 minutes from citizens willing to give up their time, which when added to my own three minutes gave me a grand total of less than 30 minutes to present our case. Of course, on that occasion the other side had the same opportunity – which is only FAIR!

Needless to say, this panel, the mayor and the majority of the council have already made up their minds on this issue and no matter what feeble responses or non-responses are provided by the panel to disturbing questions posed by the public, Corning will go ahead with fluoridation.

However, if mayor Coccho really wants to be fair and make this a legitimate exercise, rather than a bogus PR stunt, then there is a very simple way he can do it. He says this panel will answer the public’s questions. OK. Then Mr. Mayor simply get your distinguished panel of experts to put in writing 50 specific responses to the “50 Reasons to Oppose Fluoridation” which I provided to the council last year (if these have been thrown away with all the other submissions you received from opponents, then it is is easy to access these 50 Reasons at http://www.FluorideAction.net/50reasons.htm).

If these “experts” have a solid case this should be an easy exercise for them. If they can’t, any reasonable resident of Corning must wonder about the competence of these experts and the fairness of the council going full speed ahead without basic questions being answered on the ethics, effectiveness, equity and safety of this measure.

A measure:
a) which is being pursued within a year of the publication of a report by the NY DOH which showed no relationship between the average level of tooth decay in 3rd graders by county in NY state and the percentage of the county’s population drinking fluoridate water,
b) which is being pursued within a few months of the publication of 500 page report by the National Research Council which has documented serious health concerns which occur at doses at, or ridiculously close to, the doses that some individuals receive in fluoridated communities,
c) which is being pursued within a few weeks of both the ADA and the CDC issuing recommendations that parents not use fluoridated tap water to make up baby formula,
d) which involves bottle fed babies receiving 250 times more fluoride than they would get from mothers milk,
e) in which residents will receive a medication which has not been regulated by the FDA for ingestion,
f) for which the mechanism of action is topical and not systemic, thus making drinking fluoridated water as sensible as swallowing sunblock!
 
Paul Connett

The three year effort to dupe Skagit County, Washington.

This excerpt is taken from the web site for “Grantmakers In Health”, based in Washington D.C. In February of 2006, the group released Issue Brief No. 26, “The Path to Policy Change: Practical Steps and Lessons from Health Funders.” The PDF document is located at http://www.gih.org/usr_doc/Path_to_policy_change_no26.pdf  and features the participation of the Washington Dental Service Foundation’s Tracy Garland.

TRACY GARLAND
PDF Pages 14-15
GIH Pages 6-7
 
Visualize a field of tulips. If it weren’t for the beautiful mountains to the east, you might think you were in the Netherlands. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west. You are in Skagit County, Washington, located in a rural area north of Seattle. Farming and fishing used to be the mainstay of the economy here but now it is rapidly becoming a bedroom community for those working in manufacturing to the south, and a retirement destination for others.
 
Anacortes is the largest city in Skagit County, best known as the point of ferry departures to the San Juan Islands. The water in Anacortes has been fluoridated for 40 years, perhaps because the mayor in the early 1960s was a dentist. But in the rest of the county, where 55,000 people live, the water supplied by the Skagit County Public Utility District (PUD) is not fluoridated.
 
For the Washington Dental Service Foundation, the philanthropic arm of a major dental insurance company, beginning a campaign to fluoridate the water in Skagit County was a natural expression of its mission to improve oral health and built solidly on a track record of making investments in systemic change.
 
The campaign in Skagit County began quietly in 2003, when the foundation’s board examined the risks and committed to a political and legal analysis. In this stage, consultants, working under contract, helped the foundation understand the political environment: both thematically, in terms of fear and mistrust of government and concern about individual rights as a deterrent to community action, and practically, in terms of who was in office and where these individuals might stand with respect to fluoridation. legal analysis confirmed that, while the PUD insisted it had no authority to make such decisions, the county commission could take such action.
 
A second step was to use the foundation’s relationships to recruit local leaders. A family physician was identified to be the local face of the campaign; he was recently retired, with longstanding service to the community and political skills honed as past president of the state medical society. The foundation also assembled a local strategy group of concerned citizens from medical, dental, and public health backgrounds as well as those with other types of community service backgrounds. A campaign management staff was hired. Media training was conducted, and the community organizing phase began, as the strategy group went out and met with civic organizations throughout the county and asked them to take action. In time, 26 organizations, including the county medical and dental societies, endorsed the effort.
 
The message of the campaign built on fundamental values: fluoridation is so safe and effective that we have a duty to share it with others, giving the entire community the benefit. During media training, the team learned to stay on message, rather than spending time responding to the views of the antifluoridation activists, and to voice their message with passion.
 
The community organizing phase led to earned media including letters to the editor and op-ed pieces in the Skagit Valley Herald. Some members of the strategy group met with the Herald’s editorial board, the result being an unequivocal endorsement of the fluoridation campaign. The public fight had been engaged.
 
In the summer of 2005, the public fight came to a head with a public study session of the county commission. Thirty-seven groups testified in favor of fluoridation including the medical and dental community, business leaders, the Head Start Parents Council, and others. By the time of the public hearing in August, the antifluoridation camp had mobilized. A fractious situation left county elected officials in an uncertain position. Who would pay? Would action lead to litigation?
 
The story in Skagit County doesn’t have a happy ending…yet. The phase of final resolution and ribbon cutting lie in the future. But it illustrates, as Washington Dental Service Foundation CEO Tracy Garland commented, “that foundation resources can — in the form of staff, contracts, and grants — be used to unleash a powerful political force and to empower effective leadership.”

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2) Corning being duped.

News   Monday, February 12, 2007

Published: Sunday, February 11, 2007 10:15 PM CST

Council will brush up on fluoridation facts

THE LEADER STAFF

CORNING | A panel discussion will be held later this month to better educate aldermen on any potential health risks that may be associated with fluoridating city drinking water.
  
The public meeting will be at 7 p.m. Feb. 20 at City Hall. The panel is made up of local and regional physicians and dentists familiar with fluoridation.

Mayor Frank P. Coccho said the panel will not debate the merits of fluoridation but will answer questions submitted by members of the council.

The panel will be able to answer health-related questions raised during the visitor comment portion of the meeting.
  
  
Aldermen voted in November to adjust levels of fluoride in city drinking water if $100,000 could be raised to help offset the cost of the project.

Water fluoridation is the act of adding fluoride ions to water in order to reduce tooth decay in the general population.

Panel members will include:
  
Dr. Gary Enders, Corning City health officer.

Dr. Maureen Gonta-Castellana, a local dentist and a member of the Corning City Board of Health.

Dr. Thomas Curran, project coordinator for fluoridation.   
  
Dr. Jacob K. Felix, president of the Upstate New York American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. John Gunselman, president of the Steuben County Dental Society.
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http://www.the-leader.com/articles/2007/02/12/news/local02.txt
 
Stella Dupree, City Editor  e-mail: sdupree@the-leader.com