Time to bring back Fluoride Choice in
Franklin
By Rich Aucoin / Franklin
contributed
Posted Jun 16, 2011 @ 12:55 PM
FRANKLIN — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services warned in
January that American children are overdosing on fluoride, causing an increase in dental fluorosis.
A group of Franklin residents investigated Franklin's water supply and learned that in 1970 the
Board of Health ordered fluoridation, making Franklin families take fluoride every day whether they want to or not.
Most Massachusetts towns remain pro-choice on fluoride. Nearby
towns like Milford, Bellingham, Hopedale, Blackstone, Mendon and Plainville, for example, all remain pro-choice. Just as with
all other common household medications, if people want fluoride they can easily get it. There's no reason to force it on everyone.
Even licensed physicians cannot force their patients to take
a medication, nor would any responsible doctor recommend ingesting a drug in uncontrolled dosages. So it stands to reason
that unlicensed practitioners such as the Board of Health members should not be doing these things either.
Even though the board members don't dispute that individuals have
a basic human right to choose their own medications, they nonetheless refused a request last month by concerned Franklin residents
to restore fluoride choice to Franklin. The board said it lacks the authority to end its own policy and referred the residents
to the attorney general.
However, the attorney general's
chief attorney, Margaret Hurley, disagreed with the board on May 6, saying that Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 111 makes
local health officials responsible for enforcing medical freedom. Still the board said no to choice.
By blindly continuing an unfair and outdated fluoridation policy even as fluorosis
rates are on the rise, the board members are exposing the town to unnecessary health and legal risks.
It is time to bring fluoride choice back to Franklin, which
will also save taxpayers $35,880 every year in fluoridation-related costs
Source:
http://www.milforddailynews.com/opinions/letters_to_the_editor/x242155813/Aucoin-Time-to-bring-back-fluoride-choice-in-Franklin
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