We Thought It Was A Satire -- Digby

[erronis]

https://digbysblog.net/2025/05/03/we-thought-it-was-a-satire/

It was a prophesy:

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating two leading toothpaste makers over their use of fluoride, suggesting that they are “illegally marketing” the teeth cleaners to parents and kids “in ways that are misleading, deceptive, and dangerous.”

The toothpaste makers in the crosshairs are Colgate-Palmolive Company, maker of Colgate toothpastes, and Proctor & Gamble Manufacturing Co., which makes Crest toothpastes. In an announcement Thursday, Paxton said he has sent Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs) to the companies.

The move is an escalation in an ongoing battle over fluoride, which effectively prevents dental cavities and improves oral health. Community water fluoridation has been hailed by health and dental experts as one of the top 10 great public health interventions for advancing oral health across communities, regardless of age, education, or income.

But, despite the success, fluoride has always had detractors—from conspiracy theorists in the past suggesting the naturally occurring mineral is a form of communist mind control, to more recent times, in which low-quality, controversial studies have suggested that high doses may lower IQ in children.

This isn’t a troll. It’s real:

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr… said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide. Kennedy said he’s assembling a task force of health experts to study the issue and make new recommendations.

Also on Monday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it is reviewing “new scientific information” on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water. The EPA sets the maximum level allowed in public water systems.

Kennedy told The Associated Press of his plans after a news conference with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in Salt Lake City.

Kennedy cannot order communities to stop fluoridation, but he can direct the CDC to stop recommending it and work with the EPA to change the allowed amount.

Utah last month became the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water, pushing past opposition from dentists and national health organizations who warned the move would disproportionately hurt low-income residents who can’t afford regular dentist visits.

America’s health is in the hands of youtube conspiracy theorists.

[enigmania]

1. I've benefited from flouride

for my entire life (68 years). Never had a cavity. Also, I had a fourth-year college reading level in the ninth grade. Yes, that film was prescient.