Five Years of HSE Neglect

Published Meath Chronicle 24th June 2015. 

In 2010, the Fianna Fail/GP government removed the treatment of gum disease from Medical Card holders. Gum disease can cause bad breath, swollen, bleeding gums, loosening teeth, pain and ultimately extractions. Despite a 2014 survey on oral health showing it now affects 80% of adults, the current government is more than happy to leave nearly one-third of the Irish population with an untreated disease. 

And don´t think they don´t know! 
The government paid for the above study. Leo Varadkar while Minister of Health wrote, “Oral disease impacts on the majority of the population...the prevalence of dental decay and gum disease remains high. These conditions are preventable…” However, he´s not willing to do anything about it, his mates in the HSE are also happy to neglect Irish health. Although their website admits one of the best methods of prevention is a regular “scale and polish that involves having the plaque and tartar scraped away from your teeth with a special instrument, before your teeth are polished to remove any marks or stains”, the HSE fails to point out this treatment is not available to the vast majority of GMS patients. 

It´s not just about teeth! 
Inflammation in your gums affects other parts of your body; its presence increases your risk of heart disease and it´s also linked to strokes. Researchers have found that men with gum disease were 49% more likely to develop kidney cancer, 54% more likely to develop pancreatic cancer, and 30% more likely to develop blood cancers. Failure to treat oral inflammation is having wider health impacts on people abandoned by the state. 

So, why aren´t people up in arms? 
Unfortunately, gum disease has few notable symptoms until it is too far gone – loose, painful teeth that need extraction. There is also a lethargy within the dental profession to deal adequately with a disease that is so prevalent; the government isn´t exactly leading by example. In addition, successful treatment of gum disease requires a commitment from both parties – dentist and patient. Although I´ve threatened it often enough, a dentist can´t be stood looking over you every night when it comes to floss those lower molars. 

Early gum disease

I´m a Medical Card holder and think I have gum disease. What next? 
Firstly, get a diagnosis. The next time you go to the dentist, ask him/her if you have gum disease – request it in writing as is your right. Once you have the confirmation inform the HSE – best to also do this in writing. Now you are in a stronger position, the government is aware you have a disease that they are refusing to treat. If your condition worsens, which is very likely, then they have a substantial liability should you wish to seek compensation in the future.
In a recent compensation case, a 51-year old man from the North of England successfully sued his dentist when he failed to diagnose and treat his gum disease – he received £20,000 in settlement. 

Maybe the current government will understand measuring people's health and well-being in terms of monetary value can be a double-edged sword.

Dr Don Mac Auley.

Toothache.

Published Meath Chronicle 21st October 2014.

He switched on the bedside lamp, the clock beamed 5.22am. It was now seven minutes since the man had become acquainted with his pain, yet he still didn´t know it. His thoughts flustered over damp floorboards, the warm air forcing him outside. A streetlamp puddled rainy light upon the stairs, the bannister led down, down until he landed in the kitchen. With the first mouthful of whisky the discomfort eased and suddenly he became aware of its absence.

As the storm abated he now felt alive and tingling like an electric fence. In the toaster´s reflection he drew back his lips to see canines project from a cloud of tartar, rattling each molar without joy, the gum looked red but that could be the light and anyway his tongue had already failed to find any cavities. He finished the glass and took off again.

At the door, the queasiness returned. Square miles of waves began to roll and pitch their heaped suffering upon his lower jaw; the pain swept him back to the table. Gently cradling his head, he popped pill after bitter pill, drowning each one in alcohol. He waited for the miraculous transition but it never came. Chaos and treachery reigned. The gates of misery opened and so started a slow, monotonous descent to hell; the man dug his nails in. Then he made himself small to resist the pain however it multiplied quickly, extending its territory until throbbing radiated from above the temple all the way down his neck.

With his head flat on the table between two bags of frozen peas, he tried to stop the advance. Contorted and gasping, he struggled again for clarity. At 6.38am, the analgesic Cavalry arrived. He welcomed them, whooping and chuckling as the pain receded but he could soon tell by their poor equipment and lack of numbers that the relief wouldn´t last long; the man grabbed the phone and dialled her number.

He heard himself imploring repeatedly “Hello? Hello? Hello?” even before she´d answered. “What do YOU want” she finally responded recognising his voice “Do you know what time it is?” “You´ve got to help me, I´m in agony…please…” She cut him off, “We´ve been through this a million times”. “But, you don´t understand, my tooth is killing me, I can´t stand it any…” Before he could finish the sentence she´d hung up. When he rang back he got a high-pitched melancholic drone that penetrated his ear, down his jaw and the ache stirred again.

Back in the bedroom, it grew worse. The dentist would be open in two hours but the man knew how he´d react from painful experience, “Don´t be a coward, man, it´s only an abscess. If you can stand a small injection we´ll take it out for God´s sake”. He could see it all clearly now, he had entered a new state, the agony had revealed his reality – he was weak and completely alone.

After that, the pills didn´t taste so bitter.

Dr Don Mac Auley.

Fluoride in our water – Money down the drain.

Published Meath Chronicle - 1st Jan 2014

The Irish government has been adding fluoride to our tap water for the last 49 years to supposedly reduce tooth decay. It costs the state €12 million annually to buy, transport, store and inject the chemical into our drinking water. And next year thanks to their generous new meters we´ll be paying for the privilege. However, with the truth the government is more selfish; they don´t tell you the chemical they dose us with is an industrial waste product imported from phosphate manufacture in Spain. They don´t confess it´s NEVER been passed as safe by the Irish Medicines Board. Nor do they reveal that nearly all of this fluoride will end up in the Irish environment.

Government dentists dictate that diluting this toxic slurry in our water strengthens kids´ teeth however the mathematics of fluoridation leaves you wondering whether it´s more about waste disposal than cavity prevention. The Commission for Energy Regulation confirmed last month that 41% of our water nationally is lost in leaks – that´s €4.8 million´s worth of fluoride directly dumped into Irish streams, rivers and lakes. Of the remaining 59% that actually reaches a tap, close to 9/10s is used by industry and farming. Therefore, only 0.06% of the chemical arrives at any given house. But we only drink about 1% of the water we consume; the rest is used for washing machines, showers, toilets etc. And considering the target audience for fluoride is kids with developing teeth who don´t brush their teeth, this means that 99.9994% of the fluoridating chemical is wasted every year, €12million down the drain. That´s if fluoridation worked!

What our government can´t explain is why other European countries that don´t fluoridate have better teeth than the Irish.  World Health Organisation 2012 data for 12 year olds shows us Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Netherlands all have less decay. 98% of Europe drinks water free from fluoride chemicals, countries that have also enjoyed vast improvements in dental health since the 1960s. Germany tried fluoridation but stopped in the 1970s, The Netherlands prohibits the addition of fluoride by law. Across the world, the fluoride tide is turning with regions in Australia and Canada now voting it out. Last summer, Israel´s Supreme Court declared the 1930s science behind fluoridation was seriously outdated so much so the danger to health far outweighed any possible benefits for teeth.

These are the same health concerns that Fine Gael cited in 2001 when they made a pre-election promise to stop fluoridation upon winning office. Their declaration referred to “skin irritations, mouth ulcers, headaches, stomach upset and it could also cause irritable bowel syndrome”. However last month, FG voted with Labour and FF to continue forcing fluoride down our throats. Profound memory loss and the ability to perform U-turns would appear to be a new fluoride side-effect that only plagues political parties in power.

Mary Raftery, the journalist who exposed child abuse in church-run schools once posed the question – Do they think we're eejits? Regarding fluoride in our drinking water, the answer is yes. And next year they'll expect us eejits to pay for their poison – as if we haven't already paid enough.

Dr Don Mac Auley.

Fluoride Debate: Another Whitewash on the Way?

Published in Hotpress 18th Dec 2013
http://www.hotpress.com/politics/frontlines/Fluoride-Debate-Another-Whitewash-on-the-Way/10748636.html

Though organisations such as Irish Dentists Opposing Fluoridation continue to highlight 
major concerns about the Irish water system, there are fears that a new government review 
will fail to tackle the real issues.

Don MacAuley was a key fluoride whistleblower back in 2000. He founded the 100-strong group, Irish Dentists Opposing Fluoridation, helping to generate a significant breakthrough in public and media awareness of the health risks associated with fluoride in the early years of the Noughties.

That campaign was effectively smothered by the ‘Forum on Fluoridation’, set up by then Minister for Health Micheál Martin in 2002. Over the past year, however, fluoride awareness has taken another leap forward, urged on by the combined efforts of The Girl Against Fluoride, Aisling FitzGibbon; the research of scientist, Declan Waugh; the ongoing Hot Press investigation; Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley, Labour TD Emmet Stagg and other individual politicians; and the work of many grassroots campaigners.

Dr MacAuley has now returned to the fray. Originally from Co. Tyrone, he studied in the UK to be a dentist and, having qualified, worked abroad. He first became aware that there was an issue about fluoride when he returned to Ireland in 1998.

Initially he was sceptical that there were health risks, but he quickly uncovered what he believed were convincing studies linking fluoride to serious adverse health effects.

Unable to get straight answers from the Department of Health and the Irish Dental Association to his queries about fluoride, MacAuley began using the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) to gather information. He says that he received several warnings from senior dentists in the Health Board to drop his FOI investigation and that he ultimately lost his job. Finding it impossible to get work, MacAuley set up his own practice in Navan, Co Meath, which he still runs.

It was only by chance that, in January 2002, MacAuley happened upon a mention on the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) website of a fluoride assessment being conducted by the FSAI. A week later when he looked, all mention of the assessment had been removed. It was only by pushing to the max through the FOI (with the FSAI resisting all the way) that MacAuley was able to find out more about the FSAI report. That information is revealed in full for the first time in the accompanying article.

As we have previously suggested in Hot Press, the level of resistance in the Department of Health to anti-fluoridation views is almost impossible to understand. Thomas Sheridan, an internationally known Irish expert on socialised psychopaths, and author of several books on the subject, believes that it is very sinister.

“Fluoride could be the most negative and damaging issue since the Catholic abuse situation,” he told Hot Press. “Because if this thing comes out – that we are a sick, ill, damaged nation because of government policy constantly passing the buck – it could lead to a flurry of law suits.”

That seems an ever-more likely outcome. What emerges in Don MacAuley’s article is that, in full knowledge of the risk of poisoning our infant population, the Irish authorities have continued to facilitate the overexposure of hundreds of thousands of bottle-fed babies to fluoride.

Meanwhile, in a response to questions posed by Hot Press, the Department of Health has promised a review of the impact of fluoride on human and environmental health in Ireland.

“Two assessments are planned,” a spokesperson told Hot Press. “A review of evidence on the impact of water fluoridation at its current level on the health of the population and on the environment will be conducted by the Health Research Board on behalf of the Department of Health in 2014.”

No detail is provided in relation to how this review will be conducted, what evidence will be assessed, or whether international studies will be taken into account. The fear is that what is intended is another whitewash, specifically designed to bolster the State’s position, in defending any cases taken against it, including the one already being taken by Aisling FitzGibbon.

The Department also tells us that “a review of general health databases is planned to be supported by a public health specialist.”

However, as Don MacAuley’s accompanying report confirms, who is doing the review and how it is approached is vital. Anti-fluoride campaigners will be dismayed to see that the research is being carried out by one of Ireland’s long-time advocates of fluoridation, Professor Denis O Mullane.

“At present,” the spokesperson added, “the Department is collaborating in a University College Cork-led research project, ‘Fluoride and Caring for Children’s Teeth’ (FACCT) which will specifically examine the oral health status of children and inform national policy. The study will consider the impact of changes on the oral health of children, following policy decisions relating to toothpaste use by infants and young children made in 2002 and the reduction in the level of fluoridation in drinking water in 2007.”

Sceptics will point immediately to the title of the study, which presumes a connection between fluoride and ‘caring’. They will also be perturbed at a statement made in the answers provided to Hot Press. In advance of any study or review, we are emphatically told that “the Department does not accept that there is a huge amount of scientific evidence stacking up against the safety and effectiveness of water fluoridation.”

If that is already decided, then it is not worth wasting more public money on any review. 

Fluoride in our water - The controversy.

Published in Meath Chronicle 22/10/2013

We drink it every day without a moment´s thought but the Irish state has been dosing our tap water with chemical fluoride for decades.  Back in the 1960s, some scientists believed that by adding fluoride to drinking water they could reduce tooth decay. However, there is a growing controversy that this medication of the Irish population, whether we want it or not, is outdated and dangerous. After all fluoride is a toxic substance, found in rat poison and pesticides. The Food and Drug Administration recognised its toxicity in 1997 when it required by law that all fluoride toothpastes in the United States carry a poison warning – "If you accidentally swallow more than used for brushing, seek professional help or contact a poison control center immediately".

Government dentists contend that the levels of fluoride in our drinking water are so low that there is no risk of poisoning. But how do you control such levels when you are prescribing a medicine by thirst? Before I prescribe a medication for a patient, I know the patient's age, their medical history, and whether they have an allergy or not. All this information is taken into consideration before writing a prescription. In water fluoridation, you know nothing about the patient, whether they are taking other drugs, nor if there is an underlying medical condition, and very importantly, you´ve no idea whether that individual is allergic to fluoride or not.

In fact, not only do the government not know this information, they don´t care! Section 6 of the Health Act 1960 that allows fluoride in our water also required successive health ministers to carry out health studies. In nearly fifty years, not one study has been completed. In light of the scientific controversy linking water fluoridation to serious health conditions such as bone cancer, hip fracture, irritable bowel syndrome and decreased IQ in children, Micheál Martin set up the Fluoridation Forum in 2000. Unfortunately, it was a wasted opportunity made up with the same government dentists who have built their careers on fluoride. The only positive aspect was the involvement of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) who studied the fluoride intake of bottle-feeding infants. Due to their small body weight, infants consuming tap water in their feeds were receiving up to seven times the safe limit for fluoride; and even more shockingly 200 times the levels found in breast milk.

The FSAI concluded, “the precautionary principle should apply and recommends that infant formula should not be reconstituted with fluoridated tap water”. This was the end of fluoridation in Ireland; either breastfeed or buy bottled water to feed your newborns, the prescription by thirst would be fluoride´s final downfall. But the report never saw the light of day. Realising the significance for fluoridation, the government forum buried the report. And next year, the same government will fix meters to our taps, they will expect us to pay to be poisoned by fluoride, as if we haven´t paid enough over the last 49 years.

Dr. Don Mac Auley.