Amanda Just Testimony to the 2010 FDA Panel

Injured Consumer Amanda Just presents her personal testimony
To the Dental Products Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee.
December 14, 2010 – Gaithersburg

Thank you to the FDA and the panel for inviting me to testify. It is an honor to be here today. As a public school teacher who recovered from mercury toxicity triggered by 13 amalgam fillings and a botched root canal, I’m at this meeting because I feel a responsibility to protect my students and all of the children of America, our future, from dental mercury, the same form of poison that nearly destroyed my life.

I implore you to take action and realize that the children of this nation deserve to grow up FREE…free from a toxic chemical that is repeatedly guised under euphemistic names and drilled into their unsuspecting mouths.

Since other speakers have provided scientific data proving the dangers of amalgam fillings and still others will offer personalized accounts about the horrors of mercury poisoning, I’ve chosen to share a brief lesson with you about the injustice of using mercury in dental products:

  • If there is a mercury spill at school, children are evacuated from the building and an intense protocol to clean up the spill must be followed.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]So, why is this poisonous element being drilled into the mouths of pregnant women and children?
  • Scientific data from all over the world relates the presence of amalgam fillings to cardiovascular problems,[7] [8] hearing loss,[9] kidney ailments,[10] [11] [12] [13] dysfunction of the immune system,[14] [15] [16] Lou Gehrig’s disease,[17] [18] multiple sclerosis,[19] [20] [21] [22] [23] autism,[24] and a myriad of other health problems, [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] and a World Health Organization Policy Paper has explained that mercury exposure can cause “developmental deficits during fetal development and attention deficit and developmental delays during childhood.”[43] As a teacher, I can personally tell you that these issues are very real and problematic for the children of today.
    So, why is this poisonous element being drilled into the mouths of pregnant women and children?
  • Thoughtful research has also explored how gender,[44] [45] fetal exposure to mercury,[46] [47] [48] [49] plaque,[50] various routes of exposure from mercury fillings,[51] [52] [53] genetic predisposition,[54] [55] [56] [57] [58] [59] the number of amalgam fillings in the mouth,[60] [61] [62] [63] [64] [65] [66] [67] [68] strains of yeast and bacteria that dwell in the gut,[69] [70] [71] and other circumstances[72] [73] [74] [75] [76] [77] [78] [79] [80] [81] [82] [83] [84] [85] can play a role in each person’s unique reaction to mercury.
    So, why is this poisonous element being drilled into the mouths of pregnant women and children?

I’m certain that any loving and caring teacher would protect children from exposure to mercury vapor…

…and so would a government that cares about the future of its country. As a matter of fact, the governments of Norway,[86] Sweden,[87] and Denmark[88] have banned the use of mercury fillings in dentistry, while other countries, including Canada,[89] Germany,[90] Austria,[91] France,[92] and Italy[93] have restricted the use of dental amalgam for children, pregnant women, mothers who are breast feeding, and/or people with kidney problems.

So, why is this poisonous element being drilled into the mouths of pregnant women and children?
Now is the time for the FDA to recognize the toxic burden we are dumping on the future of the United States of America. Women of child-bearing age, pregnant women and children need you to free them from having this poison drilled into their mouths. You can use your power to protect the future generations of this country, while you demonstrate that we live in a nation where each child is valued with the respect he or she deserves.

Respectfully submitted,

Amanda R. Just

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