DATES SET FOR SECOND PHASE OF FEDERAL FLUORIDE TRIAL

NORTH SUTTON, N.H., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- After nearly 3 years of delay by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – and only due to legal victories by our attorneys – the federal case against fluoridation is moving forward, reports the Fluoride Action Network (FAN).

The start date for the final phase of our federal lawsuit against the EPA over the neurotoxicity of fluoridation chemicals has been scheduled for January 29th, 2024. The Court set aside two weeks for testimony and cross-examination of expert witnesses focused on new evidence and science published since the last trial dates in 2020, including the NTP's 6-year systematic review of fluoride's neurotoxicity.

Attorneys for the EPA agreed to proceed without the published NTP report, acknowledging that while the NTP does appear to be making progress they may never officially publish their findings that low-levels of fluoride cause cognitive impairment during brain development in children. The judge also stated that he's willing to move forward without the published NTP report.

The NTP has announced that their Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC) will hold a public meeting on May 4th. The BSC is charged with evaluating "the adequacy of NTP responses to external peer review." A BSC working group will present their findings to the full council, then hear an hour of public testimony. The BSC will decide if the report needs to be amended and make a final recommendation to NTP Director, Rick Woychik, Ph.D. 

This all comes after the report went through an unprecedented multi-tiered peer review process that no other monograph in history has undergone, including being reviewed twice by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, & Medicine, reviewed by a group of external subject matter experts, and reviewed by various pro-fluoridation agencies within HHS.

Once Woychik has the BSC recommendation, he will presumably decide if the report will be made public, though evidence obtained through the Freedom of Information Act indicates that the decision will likely be political rather than science-based, and made by Assistant Secretary of Health, Rachel Levine.

FAN Director, Stuart Cooper: "At the end of the day, our two major goals of getting the judge to hold a second phase of the trial and getting a concrete date scheduled for its start were both achieved."

The Court will hold its next status hearing at 2:30PM (Pacific) on July 11th.

SOURCE Fluoride Action Network