Dr. Jeremy Wiseman of Wiseman Family Practice Speaks Out Against Water Fluoridation at Austin City Council 8/7/14

Published on Aug 20, 2014

YouTube Video Transcript

[Wiseman Family Practice Speaks Out Against Water Fluoridation at Austin City Council August 14, 2014]

>> Dr. Jeremy Wiseman: Thank you, Mayor, and Council Members. My name is
Jeremy Wiseman and I am a family practitioner at Wiseman Family Practice.
The topic I want to discuss today is the fluoridation of water. Now, I know this topic
and its potential health effects have been discussed in the past. But I would like to
cover a few other issues of concern to me.

We first need to establish that fluoride is a drug. The definition of a drug is a
substance intended for the use and the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment,
and/or prevention of disease. In this case, of course, it’s the prevention of dental
caries.

Now, there are many bedrocks of medicine today. But two of the big ones, in my
opinion, would have to be informed consent of medical treatment and dosage
control of medications.

Now, informed consent is defined as the consent to medical procedures and
treatments given by a patient “after,” that’s the keyword, “after” the potential risks,
hazards, and benefits of treatment have been explained. This principle has been
completely ignored with the fluoridation of our public water, in an attempt to
improve public health. And I believe it needs to be reconsidered.
The second issue is dosage control. Now, presently fluoride is added to water at
about .7 to 1.2 parts per million—depends on where in the nation you live. So this
means that everyone from infants to adults get the same concentration. Now,
depending on how much water a person drinks, this dosage is highly variable,
especially for infants who bottle-feed on a water-based diet.

If we can’t consider taking fluoride out of our public water supply, which I believe is
the ultimate solution, then I propose we have some sort of labeling or education for
parents about the potential dangers of dosing in infants and children.

I want to emphasize that I’m not actually against fluoride. I actually believe that
topical fluoride has its place in toothpaste, for example. And I believe that there are
dental benefits for doing this. But the systemic absorption of fluoride through our
water supply is an all-together different issue. I think one that has proven and
potential health risks that I think are unnecessary and I think are unsafe for public
health. Thank you for your time.

[applause]

>> Speaker: Thank you, Jeremy.

[For more information visit: www.FluorideFreeAustin.com]