Town Hall Meeting May 5th at Orlando Sheraton Hotel
8 am to Noon
About FDA’s non-action to remove mercury fillings from dentistry
For Immediate Release
Contact: Freya Koss, Int’l Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology(IAOMT),
P:610-649-2606, cell: 267-290-7685E-mail: frekoss@aol.com
James Hardy, DDS, Consumers for Dental Choice, IAOMT member and author of Mercury-
Free, 407.678.3399
Charles Brown, Consumers for Dental Choice, Charlie@toxicteeth.org, 202-544-6333
Consumers Demand FDA Action as U.S. Calls For
MercuryAmalgam ‘Phase Out’
ORLANDO, FL, [April 27, 2011]The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s ( FDA) Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) is coming to Orlando on May 5, 2011 for a Town Hall Meeting at the Sheraton Orlando Downton Hotel between 8 a.m. and 12 noon. . Mercury poisoned consumers, dentists and healthcare professionals will confront the Center’sDirector,Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, about FDA’s non-action to remove mercury fillings from dentistry. CDRH is the arm of the FDA that regulates amalgam fillings containing fifty percent mercury, a known neurotoxin. Supporting public demands is a new Norwegian peer-reviewed studyindicating that the replacementof mercury amalgam fillings was associated withreductions in subjective health complaints, similar to a prior Norwegian study with a similar outcome..
Dr. Shuren signed off on the 2009 FDA AmalgamRuleproclaimingmercury amalgamdental fillings safe for all people, including the very young. In December 2010 an FDA scientific advisory panelcriticized the rule, telling FDA to 1) discontinue amalgam use, at least in pregnant women and children and 2) issue consumer labeling to educate the public about the risks of this mercury product. For example, Dr. Suresh Kotogal,M.D. a pediatric neurologistsaid there is “no place for mercury in children.” (Transcript:.FDA Dental Products Panel)
The FDA’s failure to restrict amalgam use and issue new amalgam labels has not prevented the U.S. government from moving forward in order to protect children and educate consumers. In 2009, with U.S. leadership, the Governing Council of the United Nations Environmental Program agreed to develop a globaltreaty on mercury.In a recent submission by the U.S. Department of State to the United Nations “Mercury International Negotiation Committee,” the U.S. government:
• calls for “educating patients and parents [about mercury amalgam] in order to protect children and fetuses” and
• supports a “phase down, with the goal of eventual phase out by all Parties, of mercury amalgam.”
Consumer, dental, and amalgamvictim groups applaud the U.S. government position, but continue to demand appropriate action from FDA, the federal agency responsible for ensuring that medical devices are safe and effective and that products are honestly, accurately and informatively represented to the public. .
Dr. James Hardy, DMD of Winter Park FL, a pioneer in non-mercurydentistry and author of “Mercury Free,” explains that “mercury fillings came to America during the civil war era. Mountains of research clearly demonstrate mercury is toxic to the brain and kidneys. Isn’t it about time dentistry stops using this poison in American teeth?”
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According to Matt Young, DDS, president of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT), “If Dr. Shuren were to abide by the science which IAOMT has clearly outlined in its Petition for Reconsideration, FDA would immediately eliminate mercury fillings from use.”
Dr. Young further notes that, “as our Petition indicates, scientific documentation supports the causal link between mercury amalgam fillings and chronic illnessessuch as autoimmune disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, birth defects, oral lesions, and mental disorders.
“We have documentation of many thousands of cases,” Bernard Windham of Tallahassee, president of Dental Amalgam Mercury Solutions, elaborates. “In spite of the widespread harm to the public and to the environment – and unlike other countries with less special interest control, such as Sweden, Denmark and Norway that have banned the use of mercury fillings,– the U.S. FDA has not instituted a ban nor required limits nor health warnings on mercury amalgamuse.” Other countries such as Canada, UK, Germany, Austria and other European countries have issued warnings for pregnant women and children and other vulnerable populations such as those with kidney disease.
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“The U.S. position marks the beginning of the end of mercury amalgam globally,” says Charlie Brown, national council of Consumers for Dental Choice. “The puzzling outlier is FDA, which still allows amalgam to be placed in pregnant women and small children – and even claims that increasing amalgam ‘is likely to result in positive public health outcomes.’ It’s time for FDA to recognize that neurological risks and dental mercury pollution are not ‘positive public health outcomes.’”
**The public is encouraged to attend the FDA Town Meeting to learn, listen and participate. Public comments are welcome during the Q&A from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon.
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Consumers & Healthcare Professionals Testifying on May 5
In addition to Dr. Hardy and Mr. Windham, a group of injured consumersand healthcare professionals will testify on May 5 as to the devastating health and environmentalhazards of mercury amalgam.
Among them areStuart Scheckner, DDS (Sarasota) who was neurologically impaired due to occupational mercury exposure, Chris Scarano (Miami) who suffered with a multitude of symptoms immediately following the drilling out of a mercury amalgam filling, Darlene D’Angelo (W.Palm Beach) who has fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and many ailments due to her mercury fillings; Rebecca Lock (Melborne) – for her mother Kathleen Harner(Titusville ) who has Multiple Sclerosis and is wheelchair bound due to mercury poisoning; Charmaine Frederick (Orlando), diagnosed with Parkinson’s from her fillings,Kirk Youngman, DDS, IAOMT mercury-free dentist, (Clearwater); Claire Stagg- Ruda, DDS, IAOMT mercury-free dentist (Indian Harbor),Carol Baker, MD (Brandon), Freya Koss, injured consumer and Director, PA Coalition for Mercury-Free Dentistry (Pennsylvania), and members of the Sierra Club.
_References ________________________________________________________________________________
The meeting will be held on May 5, 2011, from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon EST, at the Sheraton Orlando Downtown Hotel, 400 West Livingston Street, Orlando, Florida 32801.
Tampa Mercury-Free Dentist Harold Enlow, DMD sings the
“AMALGAM BLUES.”
Dr. Enlow is pleased to be interviewed, as are all of the other participants.
http://www.mercuryexposure.info/context/films-tv-books/item/554-tampa-dentist-sings-the-amalgam-
