June 22, 2021
Donna,
The Fluoride Action Network has received a reply to our May 3rd letter signed by over 100 professionals to the US Centers for Disease Control asking for an objective internal review of the fetal and infant neurotoxicity science (see original letter). The CDC’s email reply arrived on June 17th, only days after we targeted CDC staff and members of Congress using our automated email campaign. Over the course of a week we flooded the CDC staff and Congressional offices with 1,600 emails. Thank you to those who participated in this campaign. After the CDC ignored us for a month, your efforts appear to have forced the start of a long-overdue dialogue between the CDC and the public on this important issue.
The reply did not come from Dr. Walensky, but Dr. Karen Hacker, the Director of the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. The good news is that Dr. Hacker is in a position above the Oral Health Director, Casey Hannan. We are moving forward: a dialogue has been initiated and their misinformation is being corrected. In addition, leading neurotoxicity researchers have agreed — if it can be arranged — to meet Dr. Hacker on a Zoom call to provide firsthand information on their research into this issue.
We will be sharing the CDC’s reply along with our response letter in a couple of days, once it has been reviewed by our 112 signers and sent to Dr. Hacker. We want the public to see both letters at the same time so it’s clear how the actual science and CDC talking points contradict one another. Please stay tuned.
