California Fluoride Lawsuit Dismissed
On April 10, Judge Janis L. Sammartino granted the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to stop it from adding hydrofluosilicic acid to public drinking water for the purpose of fluoridation.
The attorneys at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik filed a brief opposing the water district’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that it should be stopped from distributing hydrofluosilicic acid through the public water systems because it has not been approved by the FDA to fluoridate public drinking water to fight tooth decay. According to the opposition filed by the attorneys, “This action is brought to seek redress for the unlawful and unconstitutional medication of Plaintiffs by Defendant Metropolitan Water District of Southern California using an unapproved drug.”
Specifically, the lawsuit sought to stop the water district’s alleged practice of “injecting hydrofluosilicic acid into the water supply for the purpose of treating disease and dental cavities” given that “hydrofluosilicic acid has never been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of disease or dental cavities.”
The judge disagreed, ruling that the FDCA does not give rise to a private right of action and on this basis dismissed the lawsuit against the water district.
When asked about the court’s ruling, Norm Blumenthal, managing partner of Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik, said, “We plan on appealing the court’s decision to dismiss this case against the water district.” He added, “The action of the Metropolitan Water District of adding a drug to our drinking water for medical purposes without first obtaining FDA approval of this drug for such purposes is illegal and needs to be stopped.”