Backup Documents 09/27/2011 Item #15Fwd: Precedent - Setting Fluoride Personal Injury Case Filed Against Nestle! Page 1 of 4
Fwd: Precedent- Setting Fluoride Personal Injury Case Filed Against
15
Nestle!
Georgia Hiller [georgiahiller @mac.com]
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• For immediate release: September 22, 2011
• NEWS RELEASE
• Precedent - Setting Fluoride Personal Injury Case Filed
• Dental Fluorosis Complaint Is First In an Expected Flood of Public
• & Private
• Sector Claims
• Ellijay, GA Dental industry representatives have long fretted in
• their
• professional journals that fluoride providers could one day face legal
• actions for harm caused by ingested fluorides.
• The fear was that the citizens with a permanent staining and
• disfigurement
• of teeth called 'dental fluorosisz would bring legal actions upon
• learning
• that fluorides they had swallowed had caused the damage to their
• teeth.
• Now, after this year's admission by federal officials that
• fluorides are
• causing increasing amounts of fluorosis, an era of fluoride
• personal injury
• and toxic tort litigation appears poised to begin with the recent
• filing of
• a precedent - setting case in the Federal District Court in Maryland.
• The legal action was filed against corporate giants Nestle USA
• Inc., Nestle
• Waters North America, Inc., and Gerber Products Company on behalf of a
• teenage girl with multiple permanent teeth disfigured by dental
• fluorosis.
• The complaint notes that as a baby and young child, around 90% of
• the water
• the girl consumed was fluoridated bottled water sold by the Nestle
• defendants. The girl's parents had purchased the water based on its
• advertised dental benefit for children.
• According to the lead attorney on the case, Washington D.C. -based
• Chris
• Nidel, the young woman's family now faces significant costs for
• damage- covering dental veneers.
• The financial impact of the teen's fluorosis is even greater over
• the long
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Fwd: Precedent - Setting Fluoride Personal Injury Case Filed Against Nestle! Page 2 of 4
• term. The veneers will need to be replaced four or five times,
• resulting in
• a lifetime potential cost of more than $100,000 in dental expenses.
> Attorney Nidel points to a photo of his client's teeth. 3In this
> case, a
• photo really is worth a thousand words ,2 he states. 3The water
• providers had
• a responsibility to warn their customers about fluorosis, but they
• did not .2
• He says the girl's mother told him, 3I thought I was doing the
• right thing
• for my daughter when she was a child, by giving her bottled water that
• contained fluoride. Her teeth have now been permanently damaged by
• fluorosis. She is extremely self - conscious about her smile. Her
• friends ask
• her about her teeth. And now we're faced with extensive cosmetic
• restorations. It's not simple, and it's expensive .2
• Seeking compensation for the teen's teeth damage and its impacts, the
• complaint lists counts of strict liability, negligence, breach of
• implied
• warranty, fraud, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
• Public health professional Daniel G. Stockin of The Lillie Center
• Inc., a
• firm working to end water fluoridation, says, 3I believe water
• utilities
• will note that the bottled waters that are the focus of this complaint
• contained around 0.8 parts per million of fluoride, which is right
• near the
• amount that public utilities add to their water. We know that
• millions of
• people have dental fluorosis, and that minority populations are
• disproportionately harmed by it. People are not being openly told what
• fluorosis really is or how it can impact their lives. I think it
• will be
• very interesting to see the revelations that come out now, as fluoride
• product sellers and fluoridated water endorsers begin to be placed
• under
• oath in all sorts of fluoride - related legal actions .2
• Stockin adds, 3There were also warnings in dental and other
• publications
• that fluorides could potentially cause bone disorders, kidney harm,
• and
• thyroid impairment. I believe we'll quickly see fluoride lawsuits
> grow way
> beyond fluorosis cases.'
• Attorney Nidel says, 3We're at the beginning of what looks to be an
• absolutely enormous wave of new fluoride litigation. There are so many
• harmed teenagers with fluorosis. We have the government's own data
• to prove
• that. Potentially millions with fluorosis will want to talk to an
• attorney,
• and believe me, plaintiff attorneys and the plaintiffs' bar are
• beginning to
• educate themselves about all this .2
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Fwd: Precedent - Setting Fluoride Personal Injury Case Filed Against Nestle! Page 3 of 4
.
'The National Research Council's 2006 fluoride report raised
I
15•
• concerns about
• possible harm that goes well beyond dental fluorosis ,2 he
• continues. 3It
• appears that millions of kidney patients and diabetics were not
• told about
• their increased susceptibility to harm from fluorides by their water
• providers or healthcare professionals ,2 he says.
> Reference Links / Sources:
> * Full text of filed complaint and client teeth photo: see two links
> at.
• * Example of dental journal discussing potential litigation related to
• fluorosis: 'It is only a matter of time until a case is brought
• that gets
• public attention. The risk is that noticeable fluorosis will be
• perceived by
• the public as a toxic consequence of fluoride ingestion which,
• arguably,
• it is (57) and there will be a reaction against all uses of
• fluoride S2
• Riordan, PJ: Fluoride supplements for young children: an analysis
• of the
• literature focusing on benefits and risks. Community Dent Oral
• Epidemiol
• 1999; 27: p.81.
> * Other photos of dental fluorosis: < >
> <
> < >
> * CDC's data showing minorities with disproportionate amounts of
• dental
• fluorosis (see table 23): < >
> * National Research Council report on fluorides: see 'Susceptible
> Subpopulations section pp. 350 -51:
> &
> 3 sensitive
> population S2 info, p. 30:
> < >
> * EPA and HHS press release on lowered fluoride level in water in
> response
> to increase in dental fluorosis:
> < >
> NEWS RELEASE CONTACT:
• Daniel G. Stockin, MPH The Lillie Center, Inc. P.O. Box 839 Ellijay
• GA 30540
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Fwd: Precedent - Setting Fluoride Personal Injury Case Filed Against Nestle! Page 4 of 4
> Ph: 706- 669 -0786 <tel:706- 669 -0786> email:
15
> stockin2 @yahoo.comweb:
Georgia
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