Jan Drew Was Chairwoman of the Panel
Joel344
Health advisers reject mercury reportANDREW BRIDGES
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Government health advisers rejected a federal report that
concluded dental fillings used by millions of patients are safe, saying
further study of the mercury-laden amalgam is needed.
A joint panel of Food and Drug Administration advisers did not declare
the so-called "silver fillings" unsafe. But in a 13-7 vote Thursday,
the advisers said the federal report didn't objectively and clearly
present the current state of knowledge about the fillings.
In a second 13-7 vote, the panelists said the report's conclusions
about safety weren't reasonable, given the quantity and quality of
information available.
The FDA had asked the panel of outside advisers to weigh the report, a
review of 34 recent research studies.
The report had found "no significant new information" that would change
the FDA's earlier determination that mercury-based fillings don't harm
patients, except in rare cases where they have allergic reactions.
"For the general population, amalgams are safe. There is evidence of
that," said Dr. Karl Kieburtz, a University of Rochester professor and
chairman of one of the two panels. Still, Kieburtz and other panelists
said remaining uncertainties about the risk the fillings may pose to
some groups demanded further study.
In particular, research is needed on the effect of dental mercury on
children, the fetuses of pregnant women with fillings and others whose
bodies may absorb, distribute, process and eliminate mercury
differently, they said.
"There are too many things we don't know, too many things that were
excluded," said Michael Aschner, a professor of pediatrics and
pharmacology at Vanderbilt University and a panel consultant. He cast
two "no" votes.
Panelists also said more study was needed on whether mercury fillings
give off more vapors when they're being placed or removed.
Dr. Ralph Sacco, of Columbia University, said consumers shouldn't panic
and that there was no need to have their amalgam fillings removed.
The votes were a "start" to sparking greater dialogue and awareness of
the issue, said consumer activist Sara Moore-Hines, 57.
"If we don't want it in our fish, we don't want it in our thermometers,
what is it doing in our heads?" said Moore-Hines, a Pennsylvania
counselor.
She and other activists had pressed the panel to recommend the FDA ban
mercury fillings.
"Do the right, decent, honorable and God-loving thing: There needs to
be an immediate embargo on mercury fillings for everyone, or at least
pregnant women and children, because they are our future," said Michael
Burke, who blamed mercury fillings for the early onset Alzheimer's
disease diagnosed in his wife, Phyllis, in 2004.
Dr. Michael Fleming, a Durham, N.C., dentist and the consumer
representative on the panel, asked the FDA to consider restricting the
use of amalgam in children younger than 6 and in pregnant women. The
activists - dozens attended the two-day meeting - met his proposal with
applause.
"We are going to take the recommendations, your comments, and we will
start evaluating the next steps, with the white paper and this whole
issue of dental amalgam," Dr. Norris Alderson, the FDA's associate
commissioner for science, told the panel.
Amalgam fillings by weight are about 50 percent mercury, joined with
silver, copper and tin. Dentists have used amalgam to fill cavities -
and have argued about their safety - since the 1800s. Today, tens of
millions of Americans receive mercury fillings each year. Amalgam use
has begun to taper off, though, with many doctors switching to resin
composite fillings that blend better with the natural coloring of
teeth.
With amalgam fillings, mercury vapor is released when patients chew and
when they brush their teeth. Significant levels of mercury exposure can
cause permanent damage to the brain and kidneys. Fetuses and children
are especially sensitive.
Scientists have found that mercury levels in the blood, urine and body
tissues rise in conjunction with mercury fillings. However, even among
people with numerous fillings, exposure levels are well below those
known to be harmful, the FDA report said.
ON THE NET
Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov
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Joel344
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Happy Oyster
Now, that sounds good. At last, one step towards a better medicine.
But we must keep out the charlatans and quacks and their helpers. Otherwise we
would replace the devil with beelzebub...
Regards,
Aribert Deckers
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Bettina Raddatz:
"Treu & Glauben, Hinter den Kulissen eines Wirtschaftsskandals"
http://www.ariplex.com/ama/ama_treu.htm