HI Friends,

What a great message to share from Leo Cashman of DAMS! The people
of Minneapolis-St Paul will be using the "M" word for days and
days . . . and days.

Mary Ann Newell

From: "Leo Cashman" <lb3cshmn@...>
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2004 5:30 PM
Subject: WCCO-TV airs story about dental mercury

Dear Friends in Minnesota (and elsewhere),

On the Wednesday night 10:00 pm news, WCCO Channel 4 TV
in Minneapolis - St Paul will be airing a news segment on dental
mercury. The news hook that triggered their interest is an upcoming
Minnesota dental board meeting that will hear from the public on "gag
rule" issues for Minnesota dentists (they practice in an atmosphere
of fear and intimidation because of past prosecutions) and "informed
consent" issues (should there be a dental material fact sheet that
discloses the known hazards of dental mercury).


The Channel 4 news segment has some good content in
it. The new I-team traveled all the way to Lexington, Kentucky, to
interview chemistry professor Boyd Haley, who has published
extensively on mercury and its toxicological effects. Haley did a
mercury vapor demonstration for the I-team. Haley had a child's teeth
with an amalgam still in it. First he measured the mercury vapor
levels; then he brushed it 15 times with a tooth brush and again
measured the vapor level. The mercury vapor level was so high, it
pegged the meter. ...all captured by the TV cameras. They also talked
with attorney Charlie Brown and with a recovered patient, Eugenia
McGrath.


The I-team has also interviewed and taped Dr. Kim Harms, who
representated the Minnesota Dental Association's "amalgam is safe"
point of view. They also interviewed, by phone, Dr. Fred Eichmiller,
of the ADAHF Paffenbarger Research Center in Maryland.
Despite having their spokespeople also on the news
segment, the MN Dental Association is very concerned about a possible
mushrooming of concern about dental mercury and bad publicity for the
dental association. Their web site warns their members "..this story
has the potential to be highly publicized and alarming to the
public." Later in their blurb, the dental association says "The
video shows mercury vapor coming off of an amalgam filling in an
extracted tooth. We have cautioned WCCO about using this video, as
it does not simulate natural conditions in the mouth and is,
therefore, misleading. We are particularly concerned that, by using
this video, the WCCO story might be sensationalized at the expense
of unnecessarily alarming the public." The MN Dental Association is
sending all of its members an "Amalgam Safety Communication Kit"
to "provide them with "information and answers for your patients if
they have concerns following this story. Watch for this kit in the
mail in the next two weeks."
Please view the WCCO Channel 4 news at 10:00 pm on
Wednesday night, May 26th, and tell your friends. Tell dentists,
doctors, educators, elected officials and other key people to also
watch.... They will see something never seen before in our Minnesota
media- a visual demostration of the mercury menace that has affected
so many of us ... and Call channel 4, to thank them, if you think it
was a useful news segment. Tell them if mercury has impacted your
health! Tell them to investigate this issue even more deeply....
Tell them to give out the phone number for DAMS, a very useful
organization. Call WCCO at 612-339-4444.


Finally tell interested people not to rush out and get
their amalgams replaced, but to call DAMS at 612-721-1144 (in the
Twin Cities) for more detailed information and for a list of
practitioners who can replace amalgams safely.

from Leo Cashman, executive director, DAMS (Dental Amalgam Mercury
Syndrome) Minneapolis, Minnesota