Dear All,

I have to share the very sad news that Dr. John Lee, a very important voice on fluoridation and other health issues, has passed away. I received the news as I was about to board a plane, on route to Palo Alto, one of the many communities in California (and beyond) which he has helped with his insights on the dangers of fluoridation.

I only met John once in person (at the ISFR conference in Bellingham, Washington in 1998) and was immediately impressed with his wisdom and common sense on this and other health issues. He held a MD and was a graduate of Harvard. He explained to me that he first got involved with the fluoridation issue when he was asked by his home town in California to join a panel to review the issue. He said that one of the first things the panel did was to estimate how much fluoride the children were getting from other sources and quickly realized that they were getting more than was recommended. Based upon their report the City did not go forward with fluoridation, and based upon what John found out he spent the rest of his life helping to fight this measure, wherever he was asked to do so. He will be particularly remembered for his insightful commentary on fluoride’s damage to bone which appeared in a series of articles in the journal Fluoride over many years.

Below I have printed a message from Jeff Green who worked closely with John. Jeff’s message contains links to a web site which throws more light on John’s life and work. He will be sadly missed by all of us.

Paul Connett.

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From Jeff Green (Director, Citizens for Safe Drinking Water):

I believe it is impossible to convey the impact that Dr. John Lee had on so many people’s lives, and the understanding that he communicated.

Almost everyone who receives this broadcast email has recognized his decades-long participation in the effort to educate others on the importance of fluoride’s impact on bone pathology and endocrine disruption, especially his overviews on hip fracture studies and placing them in context; and despite his daily focus and his international reputation for his elucidation on hormone replacement therapy, John remained committed to stopping what I call the fluoridation insanity.

His clarifying the “window of injury” to women entering and during menopause and the consequence of hip fracture and other maladies as a result of fluoride exposures has been a resource to all of us.

I spoke to John last week after his return from Europe, and he was in fine spirits and eager to come to San Diego and give a deposition as our expert witness in the case of citizens against the City of Escondido and the California Department of Health Services for their attempting add hydrofluosilicic acid to the public drinking water.

John touched so many lives that I do not attempt here to capsulize a lifetime of service and personal connections. This is merely the formal notice, as the light, and the hearts will speak in another venue.

I am enclosing below the memorial statement displayed on Dr. John Lee’s web site: http://www.johnleemd.com/ and encourage you to go to the web site where you can access more about his life and work.

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In Memoriam, John R. Lee, M.D. (1929 – 2003) John R. Lee, M.D. passed away unexpectedly on Friday October 17th, 2003, of a heart attack. Dr. Lee was known by millions of people as the doctor who pioneered the use of transdermal progesterone cream and bio-identical hormones, and who had the courage to stand up against the medical establishment’s dangerous and misguided HRT (hormone replacement therapy) treatments. He kept a full schedule, giving talks and teaching worldwide (he had recently returned from a speaking tour in Europe), writing his best-selling books and monthly newsletters.

Dr. Lee was gratified by the thousands of women who wrote and called to tell him how dramatically their health had improved when they followed his recommendations, and by the hundreds of clinicians and researchers he corresponded with who had integrated his work into their practices and research with great success. Dr. Lee was thankful that his analysis of the problems with conventional HRT were finally validated by the medical establishment during his lifetime.

Dr. Lee’s friends and colleagues will carry on his legacy, as will the millions of others whose lives he touched over the years. We know that many of you will write, asking “What can we do?” The most meaningful way to remember John R. Lee, M.D. and carry on his work is to educate others, one-to-one, and give them the gift of optimal health, as he gave us.

His family asks that in lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Progesterone Research Institute. http://www.johnleemd.com/prrein.html
To learn more about Dr. Lee’s life and work click here: http://www.johnleemd.com/meetdrjohlee.html