Don’t for a moment think that Crescent City-Del Norte County is the only place trying to control the discussion by removing those in opposition. Just like Grand Jury Foreman, Dr. Tod Roy (who sounds like the mouthpiece of former Executive Director, Kevin Hendrick), and the 2014-2015 Grand Jury tried to blackball Mary Wilson and Roger Gitlin, here the American Network of Oral Health Coalitions is trying to control the discussion on fluoridation.
If there’s the tiniest activist bone in your body, why don’t you let dental-public-health@list.pitt.edu know what you think of their stance. Red highlighting and bolding was done by our office:
From: Karlene Ketola (Executive Director Oral Health Kansas)
Dear Colleagues,
As you may know, the American Public Health Association
(APHA) has engaged Ed Begley, Jr. as one of the opening speakers at
their fall conference. He is slated to be on a panel with the Surgeon
General. He is a television personality who is known for his
environmentalism and for being an anti-fluoridationist. He was asked tospeak about his environmental work, but his high profile role as a
fluoridation critic make his position on the panel problematic.
https://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual/schedule-and-online-program/opening-general-sessionThe American Network of Oral Health Coalitions has has prepared the
attached sign-on letter urging APHA to take Mr. Begley off their conference agenda. If your organization is interested in signing onto
this letter, please reply to me at
tdorf@oralhealthkansas.org<mailto:tdorf@oralhealthkansas.org> by close of business this Friday, September 4. This is a quick turn-around
because swift action is required in order to try to influence the
decision to take him off the agenda. If there are other organizations
you believe should have the chance to sign onto the letter, please feelfree to forward this message.
By way of background information, it also is important to know that theOral Health Section of the APHA sent a letter to the Executive Directorwith a similar tone asking him to remove Mr. Begley from the conferenceagenda.
Thank you for
your consideration.
Tanya Dorf Brunner
Executive Director
Oral Health
Kansas, Inc.
800 SW Jackson, Suite 1120
Topeka, KS 66612
Here's their suggested letter:
September 8, 2015
Georges C. Benjamin, MD
Executive Director
American Public Health Association
800 I Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Dear Dr. Benjamin:
As organizations dedicated to improving the health and oral health of all Americans, we are writing in regard to Ed Begley, Jr. being featuredas a speaker at the American Public Health Association 2015 Annual
Meeting. Mr. Begley is one of the country’s most out-spoken critics of community waterfluoridation, and we believe he has no place on the
national public health stage.
The American Public Health Association’s (APHA) role is to strengthen “the impact of public health professionals and provide(s) a science-
based voice in policy debates too often driven by emotion,
ideology or financial interests.” There is no better example of a need to provide a science-based voice in a policy debate than in the case ofcommunity water fluoridation. The nation’s largest anti-fluoridation
group, Fluoride Action Network (FAN), has turned to Mr. Begley as its
celebrity spokesperson for a number of years. In 2013, he was one of
the national figures publicly featured in FAN’s successful
campaign to keep Portland, Oregon, fluoride-free.
Mr. Begley is not a scientist, and he actively works against community water fluoridation, which the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention call one of the ten greatest public health achievements of
the 20th century. He is not someone who should share the stage with
our nation’s Surgeon General, who endorsed fluoridation saying, “Water
fluoridation’s biggest advantage is that it is the best method for
delivering fluoride to all members of the community regardless of age, education, income level, or access to routine dental care.”
This year marks the 70th anniversary of community water fluoridation inthe United States. This is a year we should all celebrate, and the APHAAnnual Meeting is an ideal place to reflect on this public health
triumph. Putting Mr. Begley on the agenda not only contradicts the
message about the public health value of water fluoridation, it also
diminishes APHA’s credibility as the nation’s pre-eminent public health
voice.
We urge APHA to take Ed Begley, Jr. off of the Annual Meeting agenda.
Anything less than this will blemish the public health community’s workon behalf of community water fluoridation and will embolden anti-
fluoridationists in their efforts to undermine public water
fluoridation and public health.
Thank you for your thoughtful consideration.
Sincerely,
4 thoughts on “Ed Begley, Jr. Being Blackballed For Anti-Fluoridation Stance”
Mr. Haynie, every speck of “science” you quote is disproved and outdated. Try tapping into current research, with studies provided by other than industry insiders. Get current before you spout industry propaganda and try to pass it off for solid science. Follow the money and you’ll see why fluoridation is a scam to make money from classified toxic waste that would be costly to dispose of. Somewhere in the literature they actually say such, a win-win, the community gets “fluoride” and we get to save money trying to dispose of something so toxic it’s hard to find a way to safely dispose of it. After all it’s radioactive waste! I know this is waste of time but I always have to say something when I see a so-called professional spouting such dangerous and erroneous advice. It’s embarrassing when you know how truly wrong they are, and maybe just maybe you’ll actually go out and learn the facts and stop being duped.
Those who know of the overwhelming consensus among professionals and scientists that fluoridation prevents cavities, is safe and important passionately oppose Mr. Begley appearance at this national meeting.
Should Jenny McCarthy, whose opposes vaccination mandates also be seated? Or perhaps Rush Limbaugh who denies that out of control carbon energy consumption is causing global warming?
Representing the collective opinion on fluoridation of America’s pediatricians their national society says:
“Fluoride plays a very important role in the prevention of dental caries (cavities).”
“Water fluoridation is a cost-effective means of preventing dental caries, with the lifetime cost per person equaling less than the cost of 1 dental restoration. In short, fluoridated water is the cheapest and most effective way to deliver anticaries benefits to communities.”
Over 140 important professional and scientific organizations are listed supporting fluoridation by the Quebec National Institute of Public Health.
Here is an typical example of Mr. Begley’s destructive propaganda (produced by right wing-nut broadcaster Alex Jones’s company) opposing what former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop called: “the single most important commitment a community can make to its children and to future generations.”
Fluoridation prevents about two thirds of the operations – root canals, metal teeth, extractions – on little preschool kids. The benefits of fewer cavities also extend to adult teeth and the tooth destroying cavities on elderly people’s exposed roots.
The harm to the American Public Health Association’s reputation will come if they do not remove Mr.Begley from the podium.
Any organization, specially APHA’s credibility is already gone. Not only from backing the policy of dumping an industrial waste product that never had one safety study for ingestion in drinking water, but total unprofessionalism for trying to remove a speaker after they are booked.
Mr. Haynie, every speck of “science” you quote is disproved and outdated. Try tapping into current research, with studies provided by other than industry insiders. Get current before you spout industry propaganda and try to pass it off for solid science. Follow the money and you’ll see why fluoridation is a scam to make money from classified toxic waste that would be costly to dispose of. Somewhere in the literature they actually say such, a win-win, the community gets “fluoride” and we get to save money trying to dispose of something so toxic it’s hard to find a way to safely dispose of it. After all it’s radioactive waste! I know this is waste of time but I always have to say something when I see a so-called professional spouting such dangerous and erroneous advice. It’s embarrassing when you know how truly wrong they are, and maybe just maybe you’ll actually go out and learn the facts and stop being duped.
Kathryn,
Your conspiracy rant reminds me of a quote by late NY Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “you’re entitled to your own opinions but not your own facts”.
Those who know of the overwhelming consensus among professionals and scientists that fluoridation prevents cavities, is safe and important passionately oppose Mr. Begley appearance at this national meeting.
Should Jenny McCarthy, whose opposes vaccination mandates also be seated? Or perhaps Rush Limbaugh who denies that out of control carbon energy consumption is causing global warming?
Representing the collective opinion on fluoridation of America’s pediatricians their national society says:
“Fluoride plays a very important role in the prevention of dental caries (cavities).”
“Water fluoridation is a cost-effective means of preventing dental caries, with the lifetime cost per person equaling less than the cost of 1 dental restoration. In short, fluoridated water is the cheapest and most effective way to deliver anticaries benefits to communities.”
Over 140 important professional and scientific organizations are listed supporting fluoridation by the Quebec National Institute of Public Health.
http://www.inspq.qc.ca/pdf/publications/705-WaterFluoration.pdf p 47
Here is an typical example of Mr. Begley’s destructive propaganda (produced by right wing-nut broadcaster Alex Jones’s company) opposing what former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop called: “the single most important commitment a community can make to its children and to future generations.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdT9xTNrw6M
Fluoridation prevents about two thirds of the operations – root canals, metal teeth, extractions – on little preschool kids. The benefits of fewer cavities also extend to adult teeth and the tooth destroying cavities on elderly people’s exposed roots.
The harm to the American Public Health Association’s reputation will come if they do not remove Mr.Begley from the podium.
Any organization, specially APHA’s credibility is already gone. Not only from backing the policy of dumping an industrial waste product that never had one safety study for ingestion in drinking water, but total unprofessionalism for trying to remove a speaker after they are booked.