NZ - Fluoride showdown thwarted

The Bay's health boss is being criticised for refusing to take part in a public debate on the pros and cons of adding fluoride to the Hastings water supply.
International toxicologist and expert on fluoridation Paul Connett will be in Hawke's Bay this month to talk at public meetings about his research into fluoride.
He's been invited by Fluoride Free Hastings which is campaigning to remove use of the chemical leading up to a referendum on the matter in October. The group had invited the district health board's chief executive Kevin Snee to take part in a debate with Dr Connett.
Mr Snee, in a letter to the group's spokeswoman Angela Hair, declined the offer and said the debate would not provide any additional information to help better inform people before they make a decision on how to vote at the referendum.

"We strongly believe a debate with Mr Connett will minimise the importance of the issue and the need for clear scientific facts and focus, instead, on a theatre-style debate which will further propagate myths and unscientific reasoning."...............