FAN Bulletin #964

June 3, 2008

Dear Supporter,

National Kidney Foundation

Today, the Lillie Center, a Georgia-based public health training firm, sent out a press release on the National Kidney Foundation’s (NFK) easing itself away from endorsing water fluoridation as well as recommending that kidney patients be notified of the risks of ingesting fluoride. However, Dan Stockin points out that the way the NKF has done this ? very, very quietly ? probably reflects pressure from the CDC which provides considerable funding to the Foundation (see press release below). Thus Dan asks FAN supporters to forward this news release to their local media outlets so that more people (and particularly kidney patients) can hear about these important warnings. Meanwhile, the National Kidney Foundation was still listed as an endorser of fluoridation in the literature being used by the ADA in its efforts to get mandatory fluoridation on Louisiana. I guess bad news travels slowly in pro-fluoridation circles.

Louisiana

Now a quick report on our last minute efforts to thwart the bid to force fluoridation on Louisiana. A total of 650 online messages were sent to all of the House representatives (there were some duplicates). To date five acknowledged receipt and one (Representative Waddell) offered some arguments in support of the move, to which we have responded. In our response I offered to make myself available to give a presentation to the House should the members choose to hear both sides of this controversial issue ? not just the ADA’s slick PR material.

This effort was also reinforced by local residents in Louisiana on our lists who have been contacting their representatives in person. One has been told that their representative will vote against this measure (SB 312) when it gets to the floor.

Many, many thanks to all of you who moved so quickly to help in this effort. If you haven’t sent in the ONLINE MESSAGE yet please do so by going to http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2477/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=24747

Also, Carol Kopf, on our behalf, issued a press release “Louisiana May Mandate Fluoridation Despite Evidence of Harm” which was picked up on the web sites of a large number of media outlets, both in Louisiana and across the country and even in the UK. You can access the press release at http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/louisiana-may-mandate-fluoridation-despite-evidence-of-harm,415978.shtml as it appeared on the web site of The Earth Times.

Paul Connett

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 LILLIE CENTER NEWS RELEASE — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE      

Contact: Daniel G. Stockin, MPH at 706-669-0786 or: stockin2@yahoo.com
 
Kidney Foundation Admits: Kidney Patients Should be Notified of Potential Risk from Fluorides and Fluoridated Drinking Water
 
Ellijay, GA: June 3, 2008 ? A new position paper from the National Kidney Foundation concludes that individuals with chronic kidney disease should be notified of the potential risk from exposure to fluorides. The document acknowledges gaping holes in research concerning kidney impacts from fluorides, lending new ammunition to the growing numbers of cities, health professionals, water agencies, and citizens who question industry and government assertions that water fluoridation has been proven safe.
 
The statement formally cancels NKF’s previous position paper on water fluoridation and recommends that kidney patients be notified of the risks via the organization’s web site.
 
Opponents of fluoridation believe the statement is a step in the right direction, but say that the document still does not go far enough and is not reaching the millions of average kidney patients ? perhaps due to an apparent conflict of interest the National Kidney Foundation has in receiving grant funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the federal government’s largest promoter of water fluoridation.
 
NKF has issued no press release about the April 15th statement and has offered no direct link to the new information on its web site except when a search for the term “fluoride” is entered.
 
Daniel Stockin is a career public health professional now at The Lillie Center, Inc, a Georgia-based public health training firm that is working to end water fluoridation. He observes, “If you read the statement, it appears the Kidney Foundation wants to have its cake and eat it too. NKF apparently recognizes that it stands to be sued by thousands of its own kidney patients and doctors for negligent misrepresentation and failure to warn, but doesn’t have the stomach to oppose the CDC who has been a funder of NKF. So NKF has told some of the story of fluoride’s toxicity, but not all, and quietly put the news on a difficult-to-find web page. Lawyers and fluoride opponents are going to have a field day with the inconsistent statements in the paper.”
 
Opponents of fluoridation do appreciate that the new paper strikes a blow to organizations such as the American Dental Association that list NKF as supporting, endorsing, or recognizing the public health benefits of fluoridation. In bold-faced type the paper states, “The NKF has no position on the optimal fluoridation of water.” This statement appears to require the American Dental Association to remove the National Kidney Foundation’s name from ADA’s list of organizations recognizing fluoridation’s benefits at http://www.ada.org/public/topics/fluoride/facts/compendium.asp .
 
Fluoridated water is acknowledged to be potentially harmful to patients on dialysis machines. The position paper lists cases where dialysis patients died or were fluoride-poisoned when filtration systems on the machines allowed fluoride into the bodies of the patients.
 
Stockin points out, “Fluoride must be removed from water used for dialysis, but people with kidney stones, transplants, or other kidney issues ingest it in drinking water, foods, drugs, and from other sources without anyone knowing their total fluoride dose. Sounds a little like someone’s not telling the whole story of Fluoride-Gate,” he says.
 
“The kidneys are exposed to significant amounts of toxic fluoride as they try to eliminate it from the body,” he continues. “How many kidney patients could have avoided dialysis ? or perhaps sadly even death from chronic kidney disease ? if they had been told the whole story about fluoride toxicity?”
 
The revised fluoride statement from the National Kidney Foundation can be viewed at: http://www.kidney.org/atoz/pdf/Fluoride_Intake_in_CKD.pdf  and the attorney’s letter sent to NKF that initiated NKF’s re-look at fluoridation can be found at: http://www.fluoridealert.org/NKF_letter01.pdf