1. Patient Labeling of All Installed Medical and Dental Devices
2. Funding Recovery Services for Device Related Illnesses
3. Develop Comprehensive Plan for Patient/Worker Protection, Reform
4. Urgent FDA Safety Reform of Installed Devices, Surgeon General Report
OUTLINE OF COMPREHENSIVE PLAN for Patient Protection and Reform
OUTLINE OF COMPREHENSIVE PLAN for Patient Protection and Reform
i) Follow the lead of four states and add consumer labels with warnings to the product to discourage its use
by those for whom it may be harmful and written consent; the FDA has
indicated state consumer laws do not violate preemption.[1]
ii) Fund and require Medicaid to pay for alternate filling materials, as
Pennsylvania does, so people can chose what is best for their children’s and
their own health needs.
iii) Require dental plans to be cost neutral on fillings, and accountable
to medical necessity and patient protection laws, and require them to use of
biocompatible dental materials.
iv) Encourage integrated health and dental insurance plans to ensure oral
care supports physical and cognitive health, and reduce costly externalities
down the road.
v) Require and expedite inclusion of dental materials and records in electronic medical records for review and analysis by physicians, ACOs, health insurers, HiWay, MA Health Policy Commission.
b)
Research
i)
Set up a surveillance system and reporting system as there is
none functioning at the federal or state level, and include as a priority
for the Health Prevention Trust Fund.
ii)
Hold hearings and survey the public as to prevalence of people who
had health impacts, survey biologic dental practices and functional medicine
practices to quantify numbers served with dental mercury toxicity and assess
training and capacity building needs, and conduct a learning tour to get their
input on steps to expand training and capacity.
iii) Include dental
insurance data in the all-claims database and analyze connections between oral
health, dental materials, chronic diseases, and health and long-term care costs.
iv) Require organ
donor programs operating in Massachusetts, and all autopsies performed with
state funds, to measure bioburden of mercury in the brain,
heart, kidneys and liver of its donors and report to state and federal
authorities, along with proximate cause of death.
c)
Systems Reform and Building Capacity
i)
Update dental and medical practice and insurance standards to confidentially
screen people for genetic glitches, and for toxic burden; and/or require
biocompatibility tests for dental materials.
ii)
Tax dental amalgam to equalize the costs with alternative filling
materials, and neutralize the bias of dental insurance plans that base what
they will pay on amalgam fillings cost.
iii)
Reboot community hospitals that have overcapacity for acute care needs as
centers
for the training and practice of biologic dentistry, train all dentists in
mercury safe removal protocols and special safety equipment. Explore launch of a state university Biologic Dental School.
iv) Design a new a
Mass Save Health program, similar to Mass Save, helping screen people for
toxins in their bodies and homes, and fund treatment and remediation, as win-win.
d)
Occupational
and Environmental Risks
i)
Require dentists and staff who work chairside be tested
periodically for mercury exposure. Because standard blood and urine tests only
measure circulating mercury, more sensitive tests are required to rule out
false negatives for non-excretors.
ii)
Require dentists and staff get special training and equipment to
protect patients, staff and dentists from mercury vapor during
installation, polishing and amalgam removal.
iii)
Test mercury levels in all dental offices and dental schools, and inspect
all dental offices and dental schools for proper use and functioning of amalgam
separators.
iv)
Require removal of amalgam from all bodies before cremation, and
require installation of adequate scrubbers on crematoria, to protect
people from exposure via air, water and fish.
4. Ask Delegation for Urgent FDA Safety Reform of Installed Dental and Medical Devices
5. Petition for Surgeon General Report on Dental Amalgam and Mercury Health Risks
