House of Lords
Fluoridation
Questions
Asked by Earl Baldwin of Bewdley
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 17 October (WA 14), why their statement that individual valid consent must be obtained before starting a treatment which is not classified as a medicinal product does not apply to prophylactic treatment by fluoride added to the water supply.[HL12788]
1 Nov 2011 : Column WA234
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe): Fluoridated water is not a medicinal product. Drinking fluoridated water does not constitute receiving a medical treatment. Nor does drinking naturally fluoridated water at either the same or a similar concentration to that which is achieved through fluoridation constitute receiving a medical treatment. Individual valid consent is therefore not required in either instance.
Asked by Earl Baldwin of Bewdley
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 19 October (WA 75), whether they will invite the Cochrane Oral Health Group to include an update on the five objectives addressed by the York systematic review of water fluoridation in 2000 in its examination of the current evidence surrounding water fluoridation and dental decay for the United States Centers for Disease Control.[HL12789]
Earl Howe: Cochrane Review Groups are funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and managed by the NIHR Evaluations, Trials and Studies Co-ordinating Centre (NETS CC) based at the University of Southampton. The Cochrane Groups themselves identify areas within their disciplines that they consider require investigation and submit their business plans to NETS CC for approval. Therefore, as the acknowledged experts in their fields, the Cochrane Groups have autonomy over the work they decide to take forward. Occasionally the Health Technology Assessment Programme commissions Cochrane Review Groups to conduct or update reviews where there is an identified need.
We understand that the Oral Health Group has no immediate plans to carry out a systematic review of water fluoridation and we are guided by this. In the past, the group has carried out work on adding fluoride to milk and its use by dentists in dental treatments.
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3 comments:
Here we go gain! Earl Howe, inadvertant self-medication is NOT the same as compulsory mass-medication. If you choose to consume a natural product, be it water containing the 'natural' poison fluoride, or some exotic hazardous fungus that you find in a wood, that is your decision. Whatever the consequences, you consent to the action.
But if someone else adds the same substances to a product with the intent to affect your health, and then tries to force you to consume it, then that IS medication and subject to personal consent.
And if the substance that is added has not been licensed for medicinal use,then you cannot give legal consent to consume it, even voluntarily - that's right, in such circumstances even your own consent is not valid!
Oh yes - and in passing. would you please provide the legal authority on which you rely that reverses Lord Jauncey's decision in 1983 that 'fluoride, in whatever form it is ultimately purchased' by consumer is a medicine under the definition in s.130 of the Medicines Act 1968? I am sure it would lend a little more credence (not a lot, but a tiny bit more) to your valiant stand against both the law and the evident commonsence of the public that this is indeed 'mass medication'.
I would like to comment that the Head of Oral Health and Dental Education in the Dept of Health is Jerry Read who is a well known pro-fluoridationist. On June 11th this year he was presented with a special Service Award from the Faculty of General Dental Surgery and the Faculty of General Practice for his outstanding contribution to dentistry as a whole. The Dean Prof Derrick Wilmot said "One of Jerry's most notable achievements was his tireless and successful work over many years to promote water fluoridation in the UK." The award was a medal bearing the arms of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. I would have thought that the Head of such an important dept would have not revealed himself as such a blatent fluoride pusher!
Liz Vaughan.UK Councils Against Fluoridation.
Would Earl Howe drink neat Fluoride?
If it is not a "medicine" what is it?
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