Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo — echoing viewpoints propagated by Robert F. Kennedy, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to become the nation’s chief health official — recommended against community fluoridation of drinking water Friday.
Ladapo, whose past advice on health issues has roundly been criticized by others in the health care arena, had his suggestion rejected by the group that represents Florida dentists, which countered that fluoridation is one of the “most effective and affordable public health measures” around.
Ladapo asserted a “neuropsychiatric risk associated with fluoride exposure,” citing studies that allege exposure to fluoride increases risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and lower IQs.
“It is clear more research is necessary to address safety and efficacy concerns regarding community water fluoridation,” Ladapo, who works for Gov. Ron DeSantis, said in a written statement. “The previously considered benefit of community water fluoridation does not outweigh the current known risks, especially for special populations like pregnant women and children.”
Ladapo estimated that 70% of Florida residents are on community water systems with fluoridated water and included a link for people to find out their communities’ status.
It was the latest in a long list of public health recommendations from Ladapo criticized by associations that represent the people providing the care.
The guidance also comes on the heels of a decision by the Winter Haven City Commission this week to stop adding fluoride to its water supply by Jan. 1 or as soon as reasonably practicable.
The Florida Dental Association countered that fluoride helps prevent tooth decay.
“Adding optimal amounts of fluoride into our community water supplies can prevent at least 25% of tooth decay in children and adults, reducing the need for costly dental treatments. Decades of sound scientific research proves the safety and effectiveness of fluoridation and underscores the importance of continuing community water fluoridation for the well-being of Florida residents,” Dr. Jeff Ottley, president of the Florida Dental Association, said in a statement.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention named community fluoridation of drinking water one of the 10 great public health interventions of the 20th Century because of the dramatic decline in cavities since it started in 1945.
There is no mandate, though, for community fluoridation of drinking water. The U.S. Public Health Service recommends fluoride levels for municipalities that do choose to add fluoride to community water supplies.
Ladapo recommendations
Earlier this year, Ladapo advised parents that it was up to them whether to keep their children at home amid a measles outbreak in Broward County — counter to usual guidance from the CDC to keep unvaccinated children at home.
The advice was criticized by Ladapo’s predecessor, Dr. Scott Rivkees, who is now at Brown University, in an interview with the Washington Post.
Ladapo also has expressed deep skepticism of Covid-19 vaccines and the efficacy of face masks to limit exposure to viruses. And he made national headlines in 2021 when he refused to don a mask during a meeting with state Sen. Tina Polsky, who was being treated for cancer and requested that he wear one.
After Trump was elected to a second term, Ladapo’s boss, DeSantis, took to social media to promote him as the best candidate to head the massive Department of Health and Human Services.
Trump picked Kennedy instead, even though he is not a scientist or physician. His appointment is seen by some as a victory for a “medical freedom” movement that arose in response to the Progressive Era idea that health experts should guide policy.
HHS is a sprawling department that includes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a high-profile health agency. Trump announced this week that his pick to run that agency is former TV personality and onetime U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz. Oz won the Republican primary in the 2022 Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race but was defeated during the general election by Democrat John Fetterman.
Trump wrote that Oz would “work closely” with RFK Jr., who his nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, “to take on the illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake.”
Trump has not announced his choice to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Food and Drug Administration, two other agencies under the auspices of HHS.
Ladapo’s guidance notes that fluoride is a naturally occurring chemical present in groundwater, rainwater, soil, plants, and foods. He noted that it’s also available from other sources including toothpaste, mouthwashes, and fluoride applications by dental providers.
While evidence shows fluoride strengthens teeth, the guidance says, ” … additional research is being conducted to review the impacts of overall fluoride exposure in the population.”
Ladapo lists alleged safety concerns related to “systemic fluoride exposure” including reducing IQ, cognitive impairment, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The guidance states that studies also show “increased neurobehavioral problems in children whose mothers ingested fluoride during pregnancy.”
–Christine Sexton, Florida Phoenix
tulip says
flouride is a good thing for teeth and bones. It is not a chemical. It is naturally in water, soil, some foods, etc. It is also incorporated in toothpaste. My kids were born a year or two after flouride was added to our water up north. They had very healthy teeth with almost no cavities and I assume their bones are in good shape too, now that they are adults. I wish they had it when I was young. Dentists give flouride treatments if wanted. Lapado needs to educate himself, as many people in the medical field have stated that he is not qualified to be a general surgeon. If all goes as Trump plans, we will have two more ignorant odd people to add to the list.
Nephew Of Uncle Sam says
RonDUH’s lap dog strikes again.
Ed P says
FYI
Palm Coast does not add fluoride. In fact, only 70% of Floridas municipal water systems do.
Jim says
Now I’m concerned. Since Palm Coast doesn’t add fluoride, I think we’re an excellent location to do an IQ study.
The dude says
Can’t blame fluoride for Palm Coast… they come by it naturally.
Of course the vast majority of the residents come from Jersey and the Northeast, so there is that.
justbob says
This joker has zero credibility. A dangerous goofball with a history of trying to roll back science. So, he would have fit nicely in the new Trump Administration.
DaleL says
The evidence that fluoride is a neurotoxin and affects the IQ of children is mostly based on epidemiological studies. Such studies are subject to other factors, such as socioeconomic status, low birth weight, maternal intelligence, and exposure to other neurotoxic chemicals. Animal experiments have not shown fluoride to be a neurotoxin at levels recommended by health officials.
It is well studied that less educated voters tend to vote Republican versus better educated voters who skew towards Democrats. Thus, I am puzzled that it is Republicans who want to take an alleged neurotoxin out of drinking water. If the premise is correct, fluoridation helps Republicans get elected.
Ed P says
Dale
Add this tidbit of information to your “deductive reasoning/scientific logic.” Hawaii is a democratic strong hold and is the only state to resist fluoride and Honolulu county actually banned it in 2004. You and the governing body of Hawaii must be onto to something. “Better educated voters skew democratic.”
Fact check: children in Hawaii have the highest prevalence of tooth decay in country. But ask yourself if if could be genetically or dietary caused?
Why is every non- democratic idea wrong?
c says
You said : “If the premise is correct, fluoridation helps Republicans get elected.” ..
You miss the point .. if the premise is correct, how the hell would Republicans know?
Nicki says
Dr. Quack Quack rides again.
Jim says
Dear Mr. Trump,
My name is Dr. Joseph Ladapo and I am the Florida Surgeon General. I’ve noticed you’ve selected a lot of us Floridians for you cabinet and I thought I’d put my name in as well. I just came out against fluoride in drinking water (timing is a total coincidence, I assure you) and that helps put me in complete step with your medicinal plans for this country. Further, I was and am against vaccinations as they are not based on proven science (I mean MAGA approved). Also, recently when we had a measles outbreak in one of our school systems and – against the great majority of medical recommendations- I did not do a quarantine of any children because parental freedom outweighs public health concerns in the Free State of Florida! Those are just a few of my qualifications. I also can show numerous examples where I cherry-picked “facts” to support anti-Establishment guidance on various diseases and such. I think I’m quite compatible with JFK, Jr. and you, Sir. And, if a situation ever arises where my opinion differs from either of you, I’ll gladly change it to fall in goose (I mean) lock step with you!
Your Obedient Servant,
Doc Joey
The dude says
He’s too late. A Faux Nooz personality was chosen for the position today.
Dennis Berg says
RFK Jr.’s position on fluoridating drinking water is backed by science. Cognitive issues are seen in several studies. Cavities vs brain damage, your choice.
These are 2 recent videos from Michael Greger M.D. Please view these videos before establishing your position on fluoridating water.
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/why-i-changed-my-mind-on-water-fluoridation/
Based on new research, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Toxicology Program reached a draft
conclusion that fluoride should be “presumed to be a cognitive neurodevelopmental hazard to humans.
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/medicines-response-to-the-changing-science-on-fluoride-safety/
How did the medical and dental community react to U.S. regulators’ total 180 over water fluoridation, going from
presumptively safe to presumptively dangerous?
Marek says
Ladapo’s physicians license should have been revoked long time ago.
R.S. says
I’d go with the scientific consensus on such issues, not with some popular prejudice or populist opinioninators. And the scientific consensus is that fluoride is relatively safe to be administered generally, except in large doses to young children. Here again, we have politicians overstepping their boundaries in claiming health-care decisions that should remain with scientists. Yes, science can err, but it is self-correcting. Populism, on the other hand, is a matter of shooting into the dark, while hoping for completely untested results to appear magically. I love the idea of testing the intelligence level of Palm Coasters to see whether non-fluoridated drinking water makes a difference in intelligence, as “Jim” suggests.
Ed P says
R.S.
Just a laymen’s thoughts. Didn’t the Covid debacle teach us to resist just accepting the the “experts” advice and to inject our own common sense and logic before accepting things like useless shutdowns or masks that don’t work? Or that “cured” immunity doesn’t work?
The increasing levels of autism, A.D.D., allergies and other youth health issues must be a concern. Maybe we should look at some of these “break through “ advances as well as examine our food supply.
I for one won’t simply accept a consensus of quasi experts and take on the responsibility of protecting my family by not relying on the bloated bureaucratic “knuckle heads” .
Trust but verify. Where has all the personal responsibility gone?
It’s not unpatriotic to ask questions and think for yourself.
R.S. says
In that case, pray tell, Mr. Ed, what evidence do you base your common sense on? Intuition? Voices from the cloud? Inner mumblings from the ancestors? Or some other mythical revelations? Thinking for oneself is indeed laudible! But where do you get your facts to do your thinking with? Will you repeat all experiments that the scientific community did to come up with an educated opinion? You see, the responsible scientist knows the difference of what s/he knows and what s/he does not know and seeks through a long process of hypothesis and falsification and new hypothesis what may be effective for the time being. I have no idea what process your common sense uses to arrive at conclusions. Whom would you trust to examine “our food supply” if not a scientist of the nutritionist variety? Your tastebuds?
Ed P says
R.S.
You are correct that anyone would have to rely on scientific studies to arrive at a scientific conclusion. But would it be right? Do major studies have flaws and can they be tilted to achieve a predetermined outcome?
Did you ever read- Why Most Published Research Findings are False by John Ioannidis? Start there and come back at me.
Or maybe, ask why nearly 34 % of neuroscience papers published in 2020 were fakes and actually plagiarized.
Why were fooled for so long by the USDA pseudoscience “Food Pyramid ”?
Vietnam US forces were told not to worry about agent orange. Everyone suffered. What about being told roundup herbicide was safe for home use?
Cigarette smoking was once thought to be beneficial by calming nerves and appetite suppressants. Prominent doctors once endorsed smoking.
No I don’t hear voices or rely on conspiracies. But I don’t follow any recommendations blindly. No one is perfect and everyone lies. So why wouldn’t common sense and personal research be worthwhile?
Ultra processed food, pesticides, steroids and gmo all carry a risk benefit. Cheaper and bigger may not be healthier.
Americans are not considered healthy compared to other industrialized nations. Maybe our current scientific consensus is not correct.
.
R.S. says
What the military says is not science: People being denied benefits when coming back with cancer from sitting on depleted uranium–that really wasn’t all that depleted–is not science but military propaganda. Studies on cigarette smoking funded heavily by Reynolds and others were not science; they were propaganda. Foods, pesticides, etc. are being pushed by Bayer and Monsanto; they are propaganda, not science. Gotta read the find print before you accept a conclusion. If that is what you mean, I laud you for being a critical thinker; if it’s intuition from nowhere that someone is advocating, I wonder about their sanity. If something is the consensus of the scientific community without funding by special interests, I trust it. And I’d find more to trust if we’d get rid of damnable profit motive in all we do.
Grabbed merica by the pu$$ says
All republicans have zero credibility and are morons. Every appointment is a total fool. Just end the government there no point in wasting money for agencies that don’t care about their mission. It like the Trojan horse . merica was good at stopping terrorist from the outside but once they got inside there’s no fixing the dumpster fire they are lighting now. Maybe china will step in and save us from the rapist conman.
R.S. says
Well, I’m not sure that Republicans are all morons; but they are short-term thinkers. “Après moi le déluge” seems to be their motto. Any fate of the species seems to fade in their minds in favor of the immediate comforts of their own little lives. Otherwise, they’d be less paranoid and more generous. Thomas Paine has impressed me with the line: The world is my country; all humanity is my family. And to do good is my religion. Somehow, I’m sure that Paine would not have subscribed to the modern Republican party.
Samuel L. Bronkowitz says
This is what happens when you let DEI hires make statewide medical policy
Pogo says
@All of Ayn Rand’s little bastards
Snap out of it — the bridge is washed out, and the brakes are burned out.
Thanks for far less than nothing.