Here is the letter my friend Sean sent to the editor at the Lethbridge Herald in response to Dr. Suttorp's article. He brings up some very valid points that I encourage everyone to bring before their local councillors. 

"Dr. Suttorp, our Medical Officer of Health, has written a column entitled “Fluoride decision should be based on facts,” but all she has provided is propaganda riddled with error and misinformation.

Did Lethbridge “first introduce fluoride” in 1961 and remove it in 1965? No. Fluoridation began in 1974 after four rejections by plebiscites.

Contrary to Dr. Suttorp’s benign description, the fluoride used in our water supply isn’t “naturally occurring.” The City’s website says it’s hydrofluorosilicic acid - a toxic waste product scrubbed from the smokestacks of the fertilizer industry.

“Bait and switch” is what Dr. Suttorp has done by quoting studies on naturally occurring fluoride to support fluoridation with a Class D-1 hazardous waste.

Of course municipal water fluoridation is cheap! We are recycling industry’s toxic waste, which they would otherwise be required to dispose of at great cost.

Dr. Suttorp’s “estimate” that every $1 spent on fluoridation prevents $38 in dental treatment costs has been shown to be unsubstantiated. The study quoted includes an estimate of lost income of parents taking a child to the dentist while neglecting substantial costs of fluoridation itself.

Shall we take the endorsement of Health Canada as proof of fluoride’s safety or effectiveness? Neither Health Canada nor any of the agencies Dr. Suttorp cites has EVER tested hydrofluorosilicic acid, either for safety or efficacy in preventing cavities. And they’ve been dead wrong many times before.

Dr. Suttorp claims it’s her “responsibility to monitor the health of Albertans.”

What is she doing to monitor the dosage of this drug in the individuals of Lethbridge?

How does she justify administering a drug without our informed consent? Should any medical doctor get away with such an illegality and invasion of individual rights?

How can she administer the correct dose when one citizen drinks two glasses of water per day and another eight? What about the age, gender and general health of the individual?

I agree people must have access to ALL the information in order to form educated opinions. So let’s have the facts, indeed.

Dr. Suttorp, how about truly fulfilling your responsibility to us?

Sean Fife"

If enough of us cry out, we will be heard.