FDA should warn of Amalgam Fillings- Niminee should warn-Dental Choice

[Guest guest]

Public Officials Caucus to FDA Nominee:

No Amalgam (mercury) for Children, Young Women

The State and Local Public Officials Mercury-Free Caucus has requested

that the U.S. Senate health committee give particular attention to the FDA

Commissioner nominee’s position on mercury amalgam.

To run FDA, President Obama nominated former New York City health

commissioner Margaret Hamburg, who fortunately recognizes the toxicity of

mercury.

She has stated, “Mercury is . . . highly poisonous to the brain and

kidneys. " _www.mercurypoisoningproject.org/pdf/june1991.pdf_

(http://www.mercurypoisoningproject.org/pdf/june1991.pdf) Her nomination is

now before the

Senate for confirmation, and the Senate health committee will be holding its

hearings any day now. In addition, Senators may also inquire in writing

about Dr. Hamburg’s views on issues and plans for FDA, and the public can

urge

its Senators to do so.

Hence, the State and Local Public Officials Mercury-Free Caucus has

written health committee chairman Senator Ted Kennedy and ranking Republican

Senator Mike Enzi (letter republished at bottom). At the outset, the Caucus

letter points out that classifying amalgam will be “one of [Dr. Hamburg’s]

first duties,†and stresses, “No good public policy reason exists to

continue to use amalgam, especially for children and women of childbearing

age.â€

Noting that FDA must classify mercury amalgam by this coming July 28, the

Caucus asks that Dr. Hamburg give a warning about the mercury to “every

patient and parent.†The caucus then expresses grave concern about the

emergence of “two-tiered dentistry,†whereby institutional settings -- even

clinics for our servicemen and servicewomen -- still place mercury fillings,

even though they are functionally interchangeable with resin composite.

The letter is endorsed by a bipartisan team of 13 current and former

public officials, hailing from ten states -- Arizona, California, Connecticut,

Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West

Virginia. Of the Caucus members, eight have served as state legislators, three

as

local officials (a mayor, a councilman, and a sheriff), and three as dental

board members.* (As you may recall, we initially brought these concerned

officials together to issue a powerful comment on FDA’s proposed amalgam

rule.)

Now that the State and Local Public Officials Mercury-Free Caucus has

spoken, here’s what all Americans can do: Write your two Senators; see below

for how.** Ask your Senators to inquire if Dr. Hamburg intends to stop

amalgam use, at least for children and young women. Remember, the confirmation

process is your opportunity to voice concerns to the Senate and to educate

the FDA nominee about mercury fillings.

Charlie

23 April 2009

Charles G. Brown, National Counsel

Consumers for Dental Choice

316 F St., N.E., Suite 210, Washington, DC 20002

Ph. 202.544-6333; fax 202.544-6331

_charlie_ (charlie) ,

_www.toxicteeth.org_ (http://www.toxicteeth.org/)

Working for Mercury-Free Dentistry

* Signatories: Teresa Fedor (State Senator, Ohio), Daylin Leach (State

Senator, Pa.), Sandra Williams (State Representative, Ohio), Karen Johnson

(former State Senator, Ariz.), Charlotte Pritt (former State Senator, West

Va..), Jay Goyal (State Representative, Ohio), Hal Lynde (former State

Representative, New Hamp.), Marvin L. Van Haaften (former Director, Iowa

Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy, and former Sheriff of Marion

County,

Iowa), Joanne Twomey (Mayor of Biddeford, Maine, and former State

Representative), Michael J. London (Councilman, Trumbull, Conn.), Kevin Biggers

(former Member, Dental Board of Calif.), Ron King, DDS (former Member, Minn.

Board of Dentistry), Chester L. Yokoyama, DDS (former Member, Dental Board

of Calif.)

** How to Contact Your Senators

1. Go to

_http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm_

(http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm)

2. Choose your state from the drop-down menu at the top

3. Find senators’ addresses and telephone numbers under

their names or next to " Web Form " to send an email

 

State and Local Public Officials Mercury-Free Caucus

316 F St., N.E., Suite 210-B

Washington DC 20002

Phone 202.544-6333; fax 202.544-6331

The Honorable Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), Chairman

The Honorable Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Minority Member

Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions

 

Re: FDA confirmation hearings: Request you forward our concerns to Dr.

Hamburg

Dear Chairman Kennedy and Senator Enzi:

One of Commissioner-designate Margaret Hamburg’s first duties, should she

be confirmed, will be to classify mercury amalgam. By court order, FDA’s

deadline is this July 28.

We created this coalition of state and local public officials because we

believe the time is past for the use of mercury-based dental fillings.

Amalgam, a pre-Civil War device, perhaps had transitional value before resin

composite was developed as an alternative. But now that resin fillings are

interchangeable with amalgam, and now that the health risks of mercury are

well-known, no good public policy reason exists to continue to use amalgam,

especially for children and women of childbearing age.

May we ask the Chairman and/or Ranking Minority Member to forward our

concerns -- and this letter -- to Dr. Hamburg?

First, we agree with Dr. Hamburg when, as Health Commissioner for New York

City, she stated that mercury is “highly poisonous to the brain and

kidneys.†We see no reason to exempt mercury implanted in children’s

mouths

from that statement -- and we trust that neither does she. Indeed, an inch

from the brain is the last place a neurotoxin belongs. Consider this: When

an amalgam is removed from a tooth, it must be placed in a hazardous waste

bag only a few seconds after it was in a person’s mouth.

Second, because of the deceptive term “silver fillings†and a gag rule

previously enforced by state dental boards, most Americans, according to a

Zogby poll, do not know that the fillings are mercury. Certainly many

American parents and pregnant women are trying to shield their children or

unborn

babies from any mercury exposure. FDA should require disclosure to every

patient and parent of a child patient receiving mercury.

Third, two-tiered dentistry exists today. Gone are the days when everyone

got mercury fillings; today, upper-middle-class adults get resin. Consumers

-- including, tragically, our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines --

still receive mercury fillings in factory-line dental clinics and

institutional settings. Indeed, a witness from the NAACP, testifying before a

U.S.

House committee, said, “It’s time to end mercury for the poor and choice for

the rich,†and added:

“Don’t create a two-tiered system of environmental justice, where we

leave the mercury fillings on the Indian reservations, in the inner cities, in

the barrios, and in Appalachia.â€

_www.mercurypoisoned.com/hearings/carlton_statement.html_

(http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/hearings/carlton_statement.html)

We condemn the idea that children, lower-income Americans, and Americans

receiving institutional dentistry merit anything less than what the rest of

us now receive: toxic-free dentistry. Dr. Hamburg, if confirmed, should

act decisively to protect Americans, especially children and young women,

from mercury by limiting, then phasing out the use of amalgam.

Sincerely,

Hon. Teresa Fedor, State Senator, Ohio

Hon. Daylin Leach, State Senator, Pennsylvania

Hon. Sandra Williams, State Representative, Ohio

Hon. Karen Johnson, former State Senator, Arizona

Hon. Charlotte Pritt, former State Senator, West Virginia

Hon. Jay Goyal, State Representative, Ohio

Hon. Hal Lynde, former State Representative, New Hampshire

Hon. Marvin L. Van Haaften, former Director, Iowa Governor's Office

of Drug Control Policy (“Drug Czarâ€); former Marion County (Iowa) Sheriff

Hon. Joanne Twomey, Mayor, Biddeford, Maine; former State Representative

Hon. Michael J. London, Councilman, Trumbull, Connecticut

Hon. Kevin Biggers, former Member, Dental Board, California

Hon. Ron King, DDS, former Member, Board of Dentistry, Minnesota

Hon. Chester L. Yokoyama, DDS, former Member, Dental Board, California

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--

Regards,

 

Dannemann

Standing director, National Coalition of Organized Women (NCOW)

_www.ProgressiveConvergence.com_ (http://www.progressiveconvergence.com/)

917 804-0786

 

 

“It requires courage to utter truth; for the higher Truth lifts her voice,

the louder will error scream, until its inarticulate sound is forever

silenced in oblivionâ€â€¦Mary Baker Eddy, Christian Science

 

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