The North American Health Freedom Movement is delivering a crushing defeat to the minions of dubious conventional health care. In California this Tuesday June 26th, 2001 is a LANDMARK action on the part of GOOD, in the battle against EVIL.
On Tuesday, June 26th, 2001, the California Senate Health subcommittee is holding a hearing for the express purpose of SHUTTING DOWN THE CALIFORNIA DENTAL BOARD.
I think they should do exactly that…
Opinion by Tim Bolen
How did this happen? How did we get to this point? There were two deciding factors (1) constant pressure on the Dental Board and California legislators by Health Freedom Advocates, (2) sheer unrelenting ARROGANCE on the part of Dental Board members, ignoring the needs (demands) of the people of California.
The ISSUE was mercury amalgam – and the state law put into effect nine years ago forcing adequate warnings about mercury toxicity. The board arrogantly ignored the law’s requirements, and hired their own consultant to write up their own version of a warning about mercury.
It was perfect… Even the Governor’s office got involved. The Dentists, staying true to form, tried to continue to obfuscate the issue. They cancelled a special meeting on June 13th, 2001 to deal with the issue.
And that action – cost them the wrath of not only the Health Freedom Advocates, but the California legislature, and the Governor.
My idea? Let’s go ahead and shut the Board down. I know where to find 12 CITIZENS to replace them – all of which could begin the process of PROSECUTING dentists that put mercury in a person’s mouth.
THE REAL ISSUE – confrontation between the NEW philosophy in dentistry vs. the OLD philosophy.
We’ve had enough in California – we’re taking action…
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PRESS RELEASE
LOS ANGELES (AP) — State officials have threatened to dissolve the California Dental Board because of a dispute over mercury in fillings. The threat was made after the 12-member board announced it would not meet a June 30 deadline for completing a revised fact sheet on various metals, including mercury, that are used in fillings. “All I can say is we have not. I am sorry. In terms of getting a quorum, of getting a meeting going, I did what I could do and failed,” said Dr. Kit Neacy, president of the board and a Covina dentist.
A meeting scheduled for Thursday in Los Angeles was canceled because too few members could attend. Now, the board will not take up the issue until July 19, when it meets near San Francisco. That has enraged dental activists, who want patients to know that silver
fillings are about 50 percent mercury by weight. It also antagonized state officials who claim the board has dragged its feet in updating the fact sheet. The sheet, required by a 1992 law but never implemented to the satisfaction of state officials, is designed for use by dentists in discussing with patients the various type of materials used in fillings, including amalgam, porcelain and resin.
“We are very displeased,” said Lynn Morris, a deputy director of the Department of Consumer Affairs, who convened Thursday’s meeting without the dental board. “The members of the board do not understand the gravity of this situation.”
The feud may spell an end to the current board: State Sen. Liz Figueroa, D-Fremont, said she intends to introduce legislation on Monday that would yank the panel’s funding, effective July 1. “I am very frustrated with this board and their direction, in that they have
repeatedly not adhered to the law that was put in place nine years ago,”Figueroa said. “Just to go against everything we’re been trying to do is just unconscionable “And attorneys within the Department of Consumer Affairs are looking at what actions the department can take, including throwing its support behind a separate Figueroa bill that would gut the board.
“It’s kind of like having a wayward child whose taken the car keys without permission — and we’re still the parents,” said spokesman Mike Luery. Neacy called the moves drastic and defended the board against allegations that it ignores consumer interests.
“Every dental board member is well aware that we are there to protect the public and we are not industry puppets,” Neacy said.
Charles Brown, a Washington, D.C., attorney who sued the American and California dental associations on Tuesday, in part to force disclosure of the mercury content of silver fillings, said it was unclear how the feud would turn out.
“It’s certainly a tense battle,” Brown said. Anti-mercury activists worry that the toxic metal poses a risk to dental patients when used in amalgam fillings, which also contain silver, copper and tin. Mercury exposure can cause cancer, birth defects and nerve damage.
However, scientific studies on the effects of mercury in amalgam — a term that refers specifically to alloys of mercury — have been largely inconclusive. Still, activists, politicians and officials say dental patients deserve full disclosure about the metal’s use in dental fillings. “The nickname ‘silver’ is deceptive and should not be used,” wrote Rep. Diane Watson in a letter to Neacy and the board. The Los Angeles Democrat authored the 1992 fact sheet law while still a state senator.
Tim Bolen
JuriMed – Public Relations and Research Group
jurimed2@yahoo.com