TSCA Court Status Hearing
On Tuesday afternoon, the Federal Court in San Francisco held a status hearing for our lawsuit against the EPA. The hearing was brief, as the Judge reiterated his longstanding desire to wait until the National Toxicology Program (NTP) has published the final version of their review on fluoride’s neurotoxicity before continuing with the trial. The NTP communicated to the legal counsel for both parties that they had submitted the final draft of their review for external peer review, and the final report would likely be published around the end of March, but that this would be determined by the timeliness of the external review.
The Judge asked if a study from a Spanish birth cohort, which was only an abstract during the summer of 2020 trial, had been published and peer-reviewed. The EPA reported that it had, and that its findings would help the EPA’s position. FAN’s counsel explained that there were serious problems with this study that expert testimony would spotlight at future hearings. Our counsel also made the Judge aware of the publication of additional studies strengthening FAN’s position, and the Judge responded that it would make sense to include these in the trial as well, so the EPA “has all of the information it needs to make a comprehensive assessment.”
The Court then set the next status hearing for June 7th at 2:30PM (Pacific Time). This ought to give the NTP enough time to publish their review. The Judge has suggested that once it has been published, FAN’s attorneys will be free to re-submit an amended petition to the EPA that includes the NTP publication and any additional neurotoxicity studies. The EPA will get a second chance to conduct an objective assessment following TSCA rules, which they didn’t do for the first petition. Once this has been completed, the Judge is expected to hold a second phase to the trial, giving experts an opportunity to assess the new evidence and the EPA’s response to our second petition if they choose not to deem fluoridation chemicals a hazard on their own.
Stay tuned! We will continue to provide updates as the trial progresses.
Send Our Surgeon General Letter To Your State Legislators
Yesterday, we shared that FAN has sent a letter to the U.S. Surgeon General notifying him about the new science linking fluoridation to neurotoxicity for developing children, and asking him to take action by at least warning pregnant women and parents of bottle-fed infants about this significant side-effect. While we wait for a response, we urge all of you to use our automated system to send the letter to your state legislators asking them to read it and take action locally. Similar campaigns have generated thousands of emails in the past, and have kept the issue in front of legislators, who at an increasing rate, are introducing bills to end fluoridation mandates or ban the practice altogether. Let’s keep this education effort going. Please click here to send your own letter today.
Last Call For Web Designers
In a recent bulletin we put out a call looking for an experienced web designer we’d like to hire to update our website. We received some very promising replies, but wanted to give our supporters one last shot to submit their interest and qualifications before we started reaching out to those candidates.
Again, here’s what we’re looking for: a WordPress designer/consultant for hire who can build a dynamic, secure website from the ground up (starting from a custom template). Mobile site responsiveness is a key goal. Must be familiar with CSS/PHP and be able to integrate a new website using WordPress CMS. We are also looking for a developer who is skilled in javascript to create interactive graphics that will be a main feature on our new site.
If you fit this description, please email your interest and qualifications to FAN’s Education and Outreach Director, Jay Sanders: jstandards@yahoo.com
Thank you,
Stuart Cooper
Campaign Director
Fluoride Action Network
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