JAMES ROBERT DEAL ATTORNEY PLLC
PO Box 2276, Lynnwood, Washington  98036-2276
Telephone 425-771-1110, Fax 425-776-8081
James@JamesRobertDeal.com

June 5, 2012

REQUEST FOR NEW RESOLUTION FROM SNOHOMISH HEALTH DISTRICT
Audio: https://www.fluoride-class-action.com/wp-content/uploads/audio-6-6-12-Everett-City-Council-Hearing.mp3

Snohomish Health District Board Members
Attention:

Dr. Gary Goldbaum, Director
Shannon Affholter, Councilman, Everett
Adrienne Fraley-Monillas, Councilwoman, Edmonds
Dave Gossett, County Councilman
Linda Grafer, Councilwoman, Mukilteo
John Koster, County Councilman
Mark Lamb, Mayor, Bothell, Chair
Dave Somers, County Councilman, Chair
Dianne White, Mayor, Stanwood
Donna Wright, Councilwoman, Marysville
Stephanie Wright, County Councilwoman

3020 Rucker Street, Suite 306
Everett, WA 98201-3971
Also sent by fax to 425-339-5263
Also sent by email to: ggoldbaum@snohd.org

 

Dear Dr. Goldbaum and other Board Members of the Health District,

 

Dr. Goldbaum, I am looking forward to our meeting with the Everett City Council on June 6. I appreciate your willingness to engage with us regarding the issue at hand – whether adding fluorosilicic acid to our drinking water should continue.

 

Speaking as representative of the Snohomish Health District, you advised the City Council in your April 5 letter, published in the Herald, that fluoridation with fluorosilicic acid is safe and effective.

 

In your letter dated June 1, 2012, you said that since 1989 it has been the position of the Snohomish Health District that fluoridation is effective. You stated the following:

 

Recognizing that “fluoridation is the single most effective public health measure to prevent tooth decay,” the Snohomish Health District’s Board of Health formally endorsed fluoridation by unanimous vote of Resolution Number 89-27 at its May 9, 1989 meeting.

 

Request for Public Document: Please send me a copy of said Resolution Number 89-27 along with minute notes from any meetings in which there were discussions which lead up to that decision.

 

If the above quotation is an accurate representation of the content of Resolution Number 89-27, the Health District only declared fluoridation to be effective and never declared it to be safe. Please clarify this point. If this is so, then Dr. Goldbaum is exceeding his authority in advising the City Council that fluoridation with fluorosilicic acid is safe and effective.

 

Further, a lot of scholarly water has flowed under the bridge since 1989. Even if the Health District did declare fluoridation with fluorosilicic acid to be both safe and effective back then, it is important that the Snohomish Health District as a whole reconsider this issue.

 

I am asking that the Board Members of the Snohomish Health District whether they still endorse fluoridation as effective and whether they also endorse fluoridation with fluorosilicic acid as safe for all populations – including fetuses and infants.

 

I hold that there is overwhelming evidence that drinking fluorosilicic acid is not safe, that it is harmful to health, especially when it comes to certain vulnerable populations, and especially when it comes to fetuses and infants. Further, there is scant evidence that fluoridation reduces tooth decay by anything more than 20%, and there is considerable evidence that it does not reduce tooth decay at all.

 

I too once thought of fluoridation as a good thing. I thought of it as a modern thing, as something good for all, as something especially good for the poor, and as a practice supported by sound science. Conversely, I regarded fluoridation opponents as not to be taken seriously.

 

However, when I finally studied the issue, I changed my mind. I decided in 2005 to speak up about this assult on all, including the most innocent.

 

I have asked Bill Osmunson, DDS, MPH, and President of Washington Safe Water, to write a letter to the Health District about how he changed his mind on this issue. Dr. Osmunson’s testimony is important because he is a health professional like you and because he had long been a dedicated advocate of fluoridation. When he started studying scholarly articles on the subject, he was shocked to realize that he had been supporting a practice that was doing harm, and doing the most harm to fetuses and infants.

 

I trust that as you look at the evidence, you too will change your mind and revise the advice you have given to the Everett City Council.

 

In anticipation of our meeting Wednesday, I have additional questions for you and for the entire Snohomish Health District.

 

The first pertains to the 2012 Snohomish County Oral Health Summit held on March 23, 2012, at the Mill Creek Golf and Country Club. The Summit was sponsored by the Snohomish County Dental Society, the Snohomish Health District, and the Washington Dental Service Foundation. The Summit was aimed at dental professionals; they received continuing education credit for attending.

 

Howard Pollick, BDS, MPH, chaired most of the Summit. I attended the meeting and so did Audrey Adams, vice-president of Washington Action for Safe Water.

 

During the lunch break I distributed a Fluoride Class Action flier entitled “EVERETT HALTS FLUORIDATION – URGED NOT TO RESTART – LEAD, ARSENIC, HYDROGEN FLUORIDE, SILICOFLUORIDE ADDED TO DRINKING WATER – Notice of Liability Served on Seattle and Everett – Federal Court Suits Filed in California and Maryland”.

 

When Mr. Pollick returned from lunch to find the flier on his table, he seemed shaken. However, when the Summit resumed, he acknowledged the flier but said nothing about its content. When he came to “Lead” and “Arsenic” in his Powerpoint outline, he simply said, “Lead, well there is no problem with lead. Arsenic, well there is no problem with arsenic.”

 

There was a final presentation by Laura Smith, representative of the Pew Center for the States Children’s Dental Campaign and the Washington Dental Service Foundation. The entire presentation resembled a pro-fluoridation indoctrination session instead of an objective discussion of both sides of this issue. Both presentations were completely biased in favor of drinking water fluoride, and both contained numerous misstatements of fact and science.

 

The safe water groups are willing to make a list of these incorrect statements for you if we can get a clear copy of the audio and/or video.

 

Request for Public Documents: Therefore, I am asking that the Snohomish Health District make available to me a copy of the audio and/or video recording made of that Summit.

 

At the end of the day, when Audrey Adams and I and other members of the audience gathered at the front and were asking questions about fluoridation. Some of the dental professionals were asking whether they could favor the topical application of fluoridation materials but oppose putting fluoride in drinking water and forcing everyone to drink it. The entire Summit had failed to address the topical versus systemic issue. At that point Mr. Pollick terminated the meeting, saying, “Well, we will just have to agree to disagree”.

 

I am asking the Health District to agree that future continuing education seminars for dental professionals cover both sides if this important issue.

 

I am asking the Snohomish Health District to respond to the points Fluoride Class Action raised in the Fluoride Action flier handed out on March 23, 2012 regarding lead and arsenic. Does the Snohomish Health District agree with or disagree with the points raised in the flier? It is your duty as board members of the Health District to respond to the kind of questions raised in the flier.

 

Because the City Council is relying on the Snohomish Health District for advice as to whether fluoridation with fluorosilicic acid is safe, I am asking the Health District to review the evidence presented in the flier and make a new finding as to whether fluoridation with fluorosilicic acid is both safe and effective.

 

Assuming that the Snohomish Health Department has never made a finding that fluoridation with fluorosilicic acid is safe, I am asking that the Snohomish Health Department, until it makes such a finding, instruct Dr. Goldblum as Director of the Health District, to retract his advice to the Everett City Council that fluoridation with fluorosilicic acid is safe and instead to advise the City Council to place a moratorium on fluoridation as the only responsible thing to do, and to leave the moratorium in place until the Health District makes such a finding.

 

There is a hearing of the Everett City Council to be held on Wednesday, June 6, 2012, at Council Chambers in the Old City hall at 3002 Wetmore at 6:30 p.m. I urge all of the members of the Snohomish Health District board to attend that meeting.

 

Dr. Goldblum, I am asking that you forward a copy of this letter to all the Snohomish Health District board members. Thank you again for your willingness to discuss these issues.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

James Robert Deal, Attorney
WSBA # 8103