USA - LETTER: Fluoridating water is outdated, ineffective

The dust has settled a bit since the 3-2 vote to apply to the DEP for a permit to add fluoride to our public water supply. I do think that proponents of fluoride have the best intentions. I will say that good intentions don't always translate into favorable results. Two of the board members stated their trust in the medical establishment guided their decision. 

I remember in my undergraduate studies in philosophy and learning about criterion for truth. One of the major criterion that people have in determining truth is trust in authority and I get that, but let's look at current events.

Thirteen people die every day in Pennsylvania because of an opioid epidemic. Four out of five opioid addictions started with a prescription for this drug. There was a paradigm shift in the mid-1990s and the consensus in the medical community was there was a lot of pain that was untreated. We were told opioids were cheap (true), effective (true) and not addictive. This crisis grew directly out of scientifically approved medical care. This is possibly the greatest health care crisis we face today and it has been inflicted by the medical community.

Indiscriminate dispensing of antibiotics has spawned super bugs that cannot be treated by traditional methods because these organisms have adapted and grown resistant. This is a major United States health care crisis. It is iatrogenic. According to Johns Hopkins University website (and many other sources), preventable medical errors are the third leading cause of death in our country.

I am not equating fluoride to damage seen in the above cases, but I am saying there is evidence of harm that has been ignored because of belief in authority by water board members. Dr. Raymond Leung asked who do we trust — the AMA or others in opposition to fluoride. Has the medical community earned the trust of the American people? I do not think that they have.

According to research by anti-fluoride activist Rick North of Oregon, since 2014 seven out of eight Pennsylvania communities that were fluoridated have voted to remove fluoride and Johnstown is discussing its removal. This is an outdated, dangerous and ineffective practice.

CHRIS KNAPP