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Re Secretary of State for Health Alan Johnson's release on water fluoridation

Doug Cross and Liz Vaughan | 06.02.2008 20:26 | Health | Indymedia | Repression | South Coast | World

The DoH refuses to acknowledge extensive evidence that the side effects of fluoridation can be so severe that, were it to be classified as a medicinal product (as EC law demands) then it would instantly be withdrawn from the market. In attempting to remedy a small number of defects in a few children's teeth, this 'remedy' will actually cause damage to all of the teeth of half of the children drinking this quack medicine.

Re Secretary of State for Health Alan Johnson's release on water fluoridation in Parliament.

We have sent a formal complaint on behalf of the UK Councils Against Fluoridation to Jack Straw, Secretary of State for Justice, to the effect that we believe that the Dept of Health is now out of control. The DoH refuses to acknowledge extensive evidence that the side effects of fluoridation can be so severe that, were it to be classified as a medicinal product (as EC law demands) then it would instantly be withdrawn from the market. In attempting to remedy a small number of defects in a few children's teeth, this 'remedy' will actually cause damage to all of the teeth of half of the children drinking this quack medicine.

The DoH and the Health Sector in general have been repeatedly warned of this, and of the severe legal prohibitions on using unlicensed chemicals in this manner, but continue to act in compliance with political objectives to the detriment of public health concerns. We therefore accuse the DoH of malfeasance and being unfit for purpose.

We have also reported to Mr Straw that the regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, has arbitrarily misused its powers by refusing to recognise the medicinal nature of fluoridated water. This is contrary to the requirements of the Medicines Act. It also flouts European Court of Justice decisions that the mere intent to use a product to treat or prevent a medical condition, or even to give the public the impression that it can be used in this fashion, is a prohibited. Claiming to the public that fluoridation prevents dental caries is therefore a criminal offence in English law.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Press Release
Open Letter to the Right Hon Jack Straw, Secretary of State for Justice,

from the UK Councils Against Fluoridation.




Re:- Department of Health Press Release of 1st February 2008,

regarding water fluoridation.




Dear Secretary of State,

The Department of Health (DoH) has issued a Press Release stating that Secretary of State for Health the Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP will shortly issue a statement in the House in favour of an increase in the number of communities exposed to water fluoridation.

There is clear evidence that the addition of fluoridation chemicals to the public water supplies is neither safe nor effective. It is also well established that it presents dangerous toxicological side effects that would result in immediate withdrawal of any pharmacological product known to expose the public to the same degree of risk.

On behalf of our Member Councils, we formally charge that the Department is acting with malfeasance, deliberately ignoring inconvenient evidence of the practice's shortcomings in order to proceed with its policy of fluoridation. This proposal is capable of subjecting the entire population to exposure to deliberate environmental contamination by a highly toxic chemical. We assert therefore that the Department is not fit for purpose, and that this policy must be subject to impartial and open scrutiny by an independent Inquiry at the earliest possible time.




This document confirms that the DoH deliberately ignores reputable scientific studies that refute the claims made that fluoridation is an effective and safe form of public medication.

It provides clear evidence of the wilful dissemination by the DoH of information that is not merely incorrect, but that actively attempts to suppress public understanding of the dangerous side-effects of long-term exposure to this unlicensed medicinal product.

The absence of reliable evidence supporting claims for fluoridation has been fully established by leading authoritative investigatory bodies. So also has the existence of irrefutable evidence of the extensive physiological and biochemical damage caused by exposure to excessive environmental sources of fluoride. None of this is admitted by the DoH or its advisers, despite its easy accessibility from publicly available sources.

This DoH Press Release again misrepresents the findings of the York Review of Fluoridation. The authors found that the quality of scientific evidence claiming to support fluoridation was so poor that none of the research submitted for review met the highest standards of clinical excellence on which a reliable decision as to its efficacy and safety could be based

The document relies entirely upon cynical propaganda, deliberately targeting the media with misinformation, in order to canvas undeserved support for its discredited long-term political objective, regardless of the known toxicological hazards and dangers to the public.

We have formally complained to you of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency's arbitrary misuse of powers, in failing to subject this product to the mandatory registration procedures for all products placed on the market for medicinal interventions.

This DoH Press Release is no more than an illegal advertisement for the alleged medicinal benefits of fluoridated water. Since this product has no medicinal marketing authorization, claiming any such medicinal property is in breach of the Medicines Act and the Medicines (Advertising) Regulations, a statutory offence of which the Department is fully aware.

Consequently, we assert that the DoH is negligently and wilfully disregarding its statutory requirement to exercise its Duty of Care to the public, and is failing to ensure that an adequate margin of safety is applied to a medicinal intervention that is hazardous to individuals and to communities.

We consider that this Press Release demonstrates malfeasance on the part of the Department of Health, and that the Department is at present unfit for purpose. We request that you take appropriate action to investigate this complaint on the earliest possible occasion.


Liz Vaughan, Information Officer, UK Councils Against Fluoridation.

Douglas Cross, Technical Adviser to UKCAF

3rd February 2008





(Additional background information for Editors is attached to this Press Release,)

Information for Editors

Who we are.

The UK Councils Against Fluoridation was formed in 1988, and is a national association of Local Authorities who have a policy to reject water fluoridation within the areas for which they are elected to be responsible. UKCAF is based in Cumbria, and acts for Authorities across a wide area of the North as well as most of the Authorities in Northern Ireland. Together, the Councils represent the interests of many million members of the public who refuse to accept the Department of Health's stated policy to fluoridated public water supplies.

Liz Vaughan is the Information Officer for UKCAF. The Chairmen of UKCAF are Councillor Paul Clein, Liverpool City Council, and Councillor Prof. John Whitelegg, Lancaster City Council. Doug Cross is a professional environmental consultant, and was for the past six years a member of the DoH's Committee on Toxicity investigating the medical effects of the 1988 Camelford poisoning.

Police complaint regarding illegal actions by fluoridation proponents.

UKCAF has recently issued a formal complaint to the police, backed by three Members of Parliament from the three main parties, regarding the infiltration by the fanatical British Fluoridation Society and its allies into the Health Service, and their illegal activities in promoting the claimed medicinal properties of fluoridated water. As a consumer product that has no medicinal licence, this is in violation of the legislation controlling illegal advertising of medicines.

Over 66 Primary Care Trusts, and a number of Strategic Health Authorities, have already issued statements confirming that they belong to an organisation devoted to the promotion of water fluoridation. They tolerate no challenges to this policy arising from the abundant high-quality scientific evidence of the risks to the public from this unavoidable medical intervention. Nor do they permit any debate concerning the violation by fluoridation of pre-existing UK and EC legislation on poisons, medicines, foods, food supplements and additives.

Complaint to Secretary of State regarding the refusal of the Regulator to comply with medicines law.

UKCAF issued a formal complaint to the Secretary of State for Justice on Thursday last week (31st January), requesting an investigation into the failure of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to comply with its statutory requirement to subject all products used with the intent to medicate the public to a rigorous process of scrutiny and regulation. The Department of Health issued the Press Release that is the subject of this new complaint a few hours after this complaint was received by the Secretary for Justice.

Reason for release of this Open Letter

Since the DoH's Press Release was issued as an open document to the media, UKCAF has decided to release its own response as an Open Letter to the Secretary of State for Justice, and to the media. The offences that are the subject of this complaint are serious, since they potentially affect the health and safety of the entire population – it is not necessary to be a long-term resident of a fluoridated water area in order to be exposed to excess environmental fluoride.

We deplore the refusal of the pro-fluoridation lobby to engage in debate regarding the legal foundation of the practice that they advocate. It is our contention that before any debate on the supposed merits or feasibility of this practice can be carried out, it is first essential to confirm that the practice is actually permissible in law. After all, it cannot be acceptable to engage in a 'Public Consultation' regarding a practice that is actually proscribed by law and an assault upon the very public that it purports to consult.

For further information, please contact

Liz Vaughan and Doug Cross, Tel 01229 885420

Doug Cross and Liz Vaughan
- e-mail: maverick65@tiscali.co.uk
- Homepage: http://Re Secretary of State for Health Alan Johnson's release on water fluoridation in Parliament.

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