A lot has changed in the past 18 months, and it’s been incredible. Prior to the publication of the National Toxicology Program’s systematic review confirming fluoride’s damage to the developing brain (learn how FAN played a pivotal roll in this report) and our victory in federal court deeming fluoridation a risk to public health, the thought of multiple state surgeon generals helping us fight fluoridation would have seemed like a pipe dream. Fortunately, things are different now!
Over the past year, not one, but two state surgeon generals have publicly opposed fluoridation and endorsed legislation banning the practice in their respective states. This is saying a lot, since very few states even have surgeon generals and one of these officials is from a state where fluoridation has been mandated for decades. Moreover, one played a key role in a successful statewide ban, while the other helped propel a bill out of their state senate with overwhelming support and is now poised to take action at the federal level.
But first, here’s an update on our annual fundraiser, which will help fund our continued efforts in 2026 to communicate with and educate state health officials, including surgeon generals, health department directors, state epidemiologists, and medical directors about fluoridation to ensure this trend continues, helping add to the bi-partisan support for our cause from the public health community.
We’re Asking For Your Help So We Can Keep This Incredible Momentum
Thanks to supporters like you, over the past 48 hours we’ve raised $3,550 from 20 supporters bringing our current total for our to $27,581 from 201 donors towards FAN’s 2026 operating budget goal of $150,000 from 600 donors by midnight on December 31st. Thank you to all who have supported our work. Every donation, large or small, will have an impact.
DONATIONS DOUBLED!! Thanks to a dedicated campaigner, community organizer, and long-time “super-angel” supporter from Colorado, the next $5,000 in donations will be doubled, giving every donation twice the impact for our campaign work in 2026. Can we match her donation before this weekend?
How to Make a Tax-Deductible Donation:
- You can make your donation online using our new secure fundraising page: https://fluoridealert.networkforgood.com/projects/176427-everyday-giving
- Or Mail Checks to:
Fluoride Action Network
PO Box 85
North Sutton, NH 03260
The First Surgeon General To Act
A year ago, at a November 22nd press conference, Florida’s Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, MD, PhD, announced that his office would be advising all communities to end fluoridation due to developmental neurotoxicity. Dr. Ladapo credited the Fluoride Action Network’s (FAN) federal lawsuit against the EPA and the judge’s ruling that water fluoridation “poses an unreasonable risk to human health” with bringing the issue to his attention and causing him to conduct his own review of the research.
Dr. Ladapo has both a medical degree and a PhD in health policy from Harvard and is a professor of medicine at the University of Florida, where his focus is on reducing health risks for low-income and disadvantaged populations. He was joined at the press conference by Florida dentist Claire Stagg, DDS, MS, and Ashley Malin, PhD, an assistant professor in the department of epidemiology at the University of Florida’s College of Public Health.
Dr. Malin was the lead author of a study published in May in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that found that children of mothers living in fluoridated Los Angeles, California had double the odds of several neurobehavioral problems compared to mothers with lower fluoride exposures. Funding for the study was provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and it was the 10th consecutive NIH-funded study in humans finding adverse effects of fluoride on children’s developing brains.
After the press conference, Dr. Ladapo testified before city councils and county commissions throughout the state over the course of 6 months, advising that they protect the public by ending fluoridation. More than two dozen of those communities, including Miami, took his advice, as did the state legislature, which joined Utah in passing a state law banning fluoridation in 2025 (more on state legislation in an upcoming bulletin).
Dr. Ladapo was just featured in a television news piece that aired nationwide on Full Measure with Sheryl Attkisson.
Attkisson has been in touch with FAN since last year and has since produced multiple stories on fluoridation. She’s an investigative journalist, five-time Emmy Award winner and recipient of the Edward R. Murrow award for investigative reporting.
Click below to watch the 11-minute feature piece:
While Attkisson only shared short clips of her interview with Dr. Ladapo on the feature piece, she later shared the audio from her full interview, where he discusses his personal path to understanding the truth about fluoridation, what inspired him to act, the science behind his opposition, the misinformation he heard from the dental lobby, and what he encountered while campaigning to end the practice. His overarching message to FAN and campaigners across the country, “Keep the pedal to the metal!”
Click below to watch the full 24-minute interview:
Louisiana Surgeon General, Who Opposes Fluoridation, Is Now Second-In-Command At CDC
The second state surgeon general to publicly oppose fluoridation was Louisiana’s Dr. Ralph Abraham, MD. He’s a physician who practiced family medicine for over 30 years after practicing veterinarian medicine for a decade before getting his medical degree. This legislative session, he testified in favor of a bill (SB 2) to ban the practice in his state, which currently mandates it for all communities with 5,000 or more residents.
In his short statement to the committee, he warned that there’s “a direct correlation between fluoride intake and pregnant women and lowered IQ in their babies.” He summarized his common sense approach to the issue, adding that “putting a chemical in the water without the patient’s consent is problematic for [him] as a physician.”
The bill later passed overwhelmingly out of committee and on the senate floor, but was tabled by a House committee that ran into a legislative deadline. The issue is expected to be brought back again in a future bill.
Click below to watch the bill sponsor and Dr. Abraham testify in favor of SB2 (SKIP TO MINUTE 44:30):
Dr. Abraham also published an OpEd, further voicing his opposition to fluoridation. I’ve posted his full opinion piece below, but first I wanted to give an important update to this story. Just this week, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced that Dr. Abraham was sworn in as the Principle Deputy Director of the agency, making him second-in-command starting on January 5th. This gives us an important ally in a position to influence future CDC policy on fluoridation, right at a time where the agency is organizing a review of the safety of the practice in order to create new science-based, rather than policy-based, recommendations. FAN will continue to reach out to Dr. Abraham to educate and coordinate in 2026.
Dr. Abraham’s OpEd in full:
Op-Ed: IQ is Preferable to Teeth in Fluoride Debate
Dr. Ralph L. Abraham M.D. | Louisiana Surgeon General
Fluoride in public water supplies has just been one of those things that’s a fact of life. Aside from a few fringe conspiracy theorists floating the idea that it was actually a communist mind control plot, most Americans, including myself, just accepted the benefits of this nearly universal practice essentially as settled science.
Where I grew up and still live today, in rural northeast Louisiana, we drink water from a well, so questions surrounding fluoridation did not rise to the level of a second thought.
That all changed when a fascinating news article came across my feed one day, saying that it had been proven in court that fluoride above a certain level in water supplies lowered IQ. This came as somewhat of a shock.
After a little digging, I discovered that multiple studies have shown this effect. There have also been some studies showing that children of mothers who drink water with fluoride while pregnant have a slightly lower IQ.
In the year or so since that court case became news, there has been a lot more discussion surrounding fluoride, and I have done some reading on the subject, specifically in preparation for my role as surgeon general at the Louisiana Department of Health, where we regulate a multitude of water systems.
Interestingly, most of the fluoride that goes into water supplies is a chemical byproduct of fertilizer production. In Louisiana, we currently require that it be added to water systems serving over 5,000 people.
As is true in just about every scientific debate, there are studies saying that it does not reduce IQ, that it’s totally safe, and those studies may be correct. But one thing is clear: This is not settled science, and there are compelling arguments on both sides of the debate.
The American Dental Association claims this practice is necessary because it reduces tooth decay by 25%, which seems low if the potential tradeoff is IQ. Just one point of IQ reduction across a population could have profound negative effects on the future.
Another problem is that there is very poor control of the dosing. Some people may never drink anything but fluoridated city water, but others may drink bottled water or water from wells. In the practice of medicine, when you give someone a drug with a specific intended effect, dosing is always critical, and in the case of fluoride, it is all over the map.
Furthermore, the people have no choice in the matter. If you live in the city, you get it whether you want it or not, and if you live in the country, it may not be available at all.
This question closely parallels those surrounding synthetic dyes in food. We should be asking ourselves how we allowed this chemical to be forced upon us in the first place.
Those who want fluoride should be able to get it at the dentist’s office, and if evidence of clear benefit is compelling, insurance should probably be inclined to cover the cost. Certainly, that seems a better option than drinking something every day for your entire life.
As is the case for all medical decisions, we must weigh the risks against the benefits and make the best decision we can. From my perspective, the summary of fluoride as it stands today, with much uncertainty surrounding the practice, comes down to a simple question of what do we value more: IQ or teeth?
I would choose IQ and I hope the Legislature and the people of Louisiana choose the same.
(Link to original OpEd published in The Center Square)
Thank you for your support,
Stuart Cooper
Executive Director