| Has Redding Medical Center and Mercy Hospital Blindly Endorsed Hydrofluorosilicic Acid as "Safe and Effective"? |
| Breaking News October 25, 2002 by M. Czehatowski |
| Last Thursday, on TV channel 7, I watched Redding Medical Center President, Hal Chilton and Mercy Hospital CEO, Rick Barnett state that "community water fluoridation is extremely safe and very effective." They also state Measure A is "deceptive and misleading." As executives of the two major hospitals in Redding and representatives of the health care profession (i.e., "experts") they are using their position to influence voters to vote no on Measure A. They are also using their position to convince people that water fluoridation is "extremely safe and very effective." So, I called both men to find out: 1). What scientific literature they used to base their statements on that the chemical the city intends to use, hydrofluorosilicic acid, "is very safe and extremely effective." 2). Why Redding Medical Center and Mercy Hospital oppose FDA approval on a substance they deem "extremely safe and very effective". 3). What is it exactly that they find "misleading and deceptive" about Measure A. Redding Medical Center contacted Dean Germano, leader of the Healthy Smiles group, who called me to answer my question. That immediately raised my suspicions that neither Hal Chilton nor Redding Medical Center has actually reviewed any documentation stating that hydrofluorosilicic acid is "very safe and extremely effective." (Is this another blind endorsement?) While I have not heard from Mercy Hospital yet, a faxed letter was sent Saturday, October 26, to these executives to formalize my questions. The local news media also received a copy of these letters. Unless they can prove otherwise, I believe that these gentlemen have put themselves in the awkward position of having made unsubstantiated health claims and misleading statements for hydrofluorosilicic acid, the chemical the City of Redding would use for fluoridation, while trying to influence voters on City of Redding Measure A. Perhaps they were unaware of the facts, but as leaders in their field they should have taken reasonable care to substantiate their statements and endorsements before making them. Hydrofluorosilicic acid is a waste product from the fertilizer industry and is not the same chemical used in fluoride toothpaste, in the dentist office, or even in bottled fluoridated water. I'm sure Mr. Chilton and Barnett are aware that the FDA is the only goverment agency that can verify a product is "safe and effective." No other government agency, including the CDC or EPA, can verify health claims. Furthermore, a Congressional investigation brought to light that the EPA was not able to identify any long term studies on hydrofluorosilicic acid or sodium fluorosilicate, the two chemicals mainly used in water fluoridation. It will be interesting to see if these gentlemen are able to produce documents to substantiate their claims. |
| This page was last updated 9/30/03 |
| Update: October 31, 2002 Neither Mr. Chilton nor Barnett were able to provide documentation to verify their statements and they refused to talk to me or respond in writing to my inquiry. These men typify irresponsibility in the local health care industry by making statements without verifying if they were true or not. With this type of leadership, it is not surprising that forty federal agents seized patient files from Redding Medical Center on Wednesday, October 30, 2002. FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael Mason stated that two doctors were being investigated on suspicion of health care fraud, making false statements about health care and conspiracy to commit fraud. As one supporter of Measure A stated, "Who are you going to believe, those doctors who are being investigated by the FBI or the one's who are not?" |
| Followup 9/30/03: Since this article was written, Redding Medical Center (a Tenant Hospital) has brought disgrace to our fine community. CEO Hal Chilton left town, RMC was fined $54 million in their heart surgery scandal, and perhaps as many as a thousand lawsuits are pending against the Hospital and their heart surgeons. For current info on RMC's medical fraud click here. |