Dental Mercury Battles Wage On
Leo Cashman
A BRILLIANT NEW legal team has taken up the cause of defending mercury-free
dentist Terry Lee before the Arizona Dental Board in a case that may prove
to be a legal landmark. Although no patients were harmed by Lee's practice,
an administrative law judge (ALJ) has dismissed the weight of testimony from
top scientific researchers and MDs on the health danger hazards of dental
mercury and recommended that Lee's license to practice be terminated. The
ALJ even discounted the testimony of Boyd Haley, the chair of the chemistry
department at the University of Kentucky and a leading researcher on
Alzheimer's Disease and on the link between mercury, toxins from root c{*filter*}
treated teeth and dementia and other brain disorders. The ALJ also dismissed
the testimony of Andrew Weil, MD, the well-known author and writer on
alternative therapies, not only a big name in Arizona, but throughout the
world.
Lee's current defense team argued, in a November court appearance, that the
Arizona Dental Board should not move on to a verdict based on the hearing
before the ALJ earlier this year because Lee was not competently represented
by legal counsel at that earlier hearing. The arguments were melodramatic
before a courtroom packed with 150 people, including supporters of Dr. Lee
who came from seven states. They heard the new defense team explain to the
judge that Dr. Lee's previous attorney was actually manic depressive, and
too mentally unstable to draw out by cross examination scientific statements
from Professor Haley and other scientific experts whose testimony was
crucial to the defense. This contention is underscored by the ensuing
events; the previous attorney was committed to a mental hospital and,
despite being under a suicide watch there, managed to commit suicide.
Now brilliantly represented by his new legal team, the Dental Board has been
stalled from making a decision until January. "Attorney Charles Brown (for
the defense) did a magnificent job," said activist Sue Ann Taylor who
witnessed the nine-hour melodrama. "I think that he (Brown) scared this
Board to death." The Board's contention is that removal of a mechanically
sound amalgam filling for any reason is wrong for a dentist, even when the
patient has been diagnosed as allergic to the filling materials. Opposing
that position are many MDs who insist that the mercury health issues are
serious and that the removal of amalgams should be allowed.
Canadian class action lawsuit survives challenge
Meanwhile, in a court room in Toronto, another landmark dental mercury case
unfolds. Plaintiff Geraldine Wilson and hundreds of thousands of Canadians
are suing two major dental amalgam manufacturers and Health Canada for
failure to inform the public about the dangers of mercury which is released
by amalgam fillings. "They knew or should have known about the dangers of
their product," say Wayne Obie, who is a spokesperson for Citizens For
Mercury Relief, a non-profit group which organized the public's
participation in the lawsuit.
In the first courtroom action, lawyers for the defendants, Health Canada,
and the manufacturers, Johnson & Johnson and Dentsply, argued that the
plaintiffs had "failed to demonstrate a reasonable cause of action," and
sought a complete dismissal of the lawsuit. But the judge, Justice Gans, was
unwilling to dismiss the case.
Lawyers for Health Canada, which is an arm of the Canadian government
roughly comparable to the FDA, had long ago made a "policy decision" not to
warn the public about the dangers of mercury from dental amalgams and that
"no duty of care is obliged to the public under policy decisions."
National Cancer Institute suppresses cancer therapy
"The proof is now in hand...the U.S. government suppresses successful
alternative cancer therapies," writes Burton Goldberg in the current issue
of Alternative Medicine magazine. Alternative Medicine is one of the few
national health publications that has repeatedly exposed the bias and
corruption of the U.S. agencies which regulate the health industry. Goldberg
and a few others are writing about a drug, hydrazine sulfate, which was
developed back in the 1970s as a safer, more effective alternative to
chemotherapy, which uses highly toxic chemicals to kill cancer cells.
Hydrazine sulfate is easy to make and is fairly inexpensive. It inhibits the
loss of body protein caused by cancer and exerts direct anti-tumor effects,
for a whole variety of cancers.
But when the National Cancer Institute (NCI) conducted a trial of hydrazine
sulfate, they allowed the subjects to use sleeping pills, tranquilizers, and
{*filter*}, all things which interfere with the effectiveness of the therapy.
Not surprising, the NCI found that hydrazine fared poorly in the test and
dismissed its claims as an anti-cancer treatment.
Complaints about this were forwarded to a congressional oversight committee
which called for a Government Accounting Office (GAO) review of the NCI's
report. The GAO's draft report was a scathing criticism of the NCI's study,
revealing that 94 percent of the study participants had used tranquilizers,
{*filter*}, or other {*filter*} incompatible with hydrazine sulfate. But then the
NCI got a copy of the draft report and demanded a "major re-write," with the
GAO's lead investigator, Barry Tice, excluded from the re-write process. As
a result, the final version of the GAO's report was radically toned-down and
NCI was not exposed for its rigged testing of hydrazine sulfate therapy.
Minnesota State Office Building is sick
Just a warning to those who might venture to visit with a state legislator
over at the Capitol: The State Office Building may be harmful to your
health! The building, dubbed the S.O.B. for short, houses all of the
Minnesota House members and some of the senators. The building has long
drawn complaints because of poor ventilation and molds generated by moisture
from a leaky roof. The fifth floor, closest to the roof, has been especially
unkind to the health of those officed there. One DFL house member had to
request a transfer to the third floor; the head of DFL media became very ill
after being hired to work on the fifth floor and had to be hospitalized. His
allergist said the building was making him ill.
The latest affront to the public health at the S.O.B. is the installation of
toxic carpets and painting. One House aide has confided that the building
fumes so affect his health that he is unable to put in a full eight-hour day
there. Rep. Jean Wagenius requested that there be no new carpet in her
office but her wishes were not respected. Prior to the 1999 legislative
session, she was able to cope by opening windows and, to avoid being in the
toxic S.O.B., she took work home.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 20 to 35
percent of American office workers suffer from "building related illness,"
costing the U.S. economy about $30 billion a year. Yet EPA lawyer Amy
Svoboda and 18 of her colleagues who have worked for the EPA are suing the
owners and building managers of EPA's Waterside Mall office in Washington,
D.C. for $40 million, claiming permanent brain damage from breathing the
toxic air there.
Attorney general's office destined for changes
At the same time DFLer Mike Hatch takes over the attorney general's office
previously manned by Skip Humphrey, another Democrat, it appears there will
also be another major changing of the guard, which means good news for
advocates for freedom and fairness for health alternatives. Hatch is
planning to install his law partner, Kris Eiden as head of the powerful
licensing division, replacing Cindy Jessen. Hatch, as an advocate for
healthcare consumers, is interested in reviewing the multitude of
prosecution cases involving healthcare licensees. Hatch has also expressed
interest in reviewing health freedom legislation being proposed by the
Minnesota Natural Health Political Fund. The Fund, a grassroots reform
organization that has a mailing list of 7,000, is also seeking to meet with
Governor Ventura and with key legislators as it moves forward with a bill
that will protect both licensed and unlicensed alternative practitioners
from being prosecuted by the licensing boards for engaging in non-harmful
alternative therapies which their informed patients consent to try. For more
information about these reform efforts, contact Minnesota Natural Health
Political Fund at 3236 17th Ave S, #1, Minneapolis, MN 55407.
Leo Cashman writes on health and the environment for several publications.
He can be reached at 612-721-3305

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