Evidence of Harm (2015) - full transcript

Mercury is one of the most
toxic elements and a persistent

traveler through our environment.

So who's the travel agent
for this elemental poison?

Coal-fired power plants?

Most definitely.

Mining operations?

Of course.

Your neighborhood dental office?

Surprisingly, yes.

Do you swear to tell
the whole truth and nothing

but the truth so help you God?



Is mercury toxic?

Elemental mercury is toxic.

Silver amalgam fillings,
does it contain mercury?

It does.

Almost up to 50%?

Yes.

Mercury is a toxic substance.

If you're exposed to mercury,
we start seeing much more

serious health effects.

These health effects would be--

Chronic fatigue.

Double vision.

Couldn't sleep.

Depression.



Panic attacks.

Memory loss.

A lowered immune system.

Loss of vision.

Chronic headaches.

Is both an immediate
problem in some individuals,

and a very long term problem in others.

I started having neurological symptoms.

I didn't feel like a human being.

In the deepest part of
myself, I thought I was dying.

People think you're
crazy, and you're not crazy.

You have mercury poisoning.

Why is it that the ADA
will not tell the public that

mercury amalgam is harmful?

Frankly, the American Dental
Association welcomed new looks

at all of the dental restorative materials.

The American people are being
overtly lied to by the American

Dental Association and the
dental branch of the Food,

Drug Administration.

4, 3, 2, 1.

You're watching Fox 17 News at 9:00.

Three years ago, I was
diagnosed with multiple

sclerosis, a debilitating
disease that scared me

to death.

But I stand before you
tonight not for pity,

but to share my hope that I believe

could help hundreds of thousands
of other sick people like me

in "My Journey to MS and Back."

My aspiration was to be a journalist

and tell stories that affect change,

and tell stories that help people,

and tell stories that right wrongs,

and expose things that need
a light shined on them.

I'd just left my dream job with "CBS News"

as a national correspondent.

My husband had just left his career.

And we made those two
decisions based on the kind

of parents we wanted to be.

We wanted to be engaged parents.

We wanted to be active parents.

We wanted to be full-on,
hands-on, 24/7 parents.

We're very much an outdoorsy
family, love nature.

And I run or do some type of exercise,

workout five days a week.

No issues with my energy level
at all, I mean just felt great.

I mean, I felt great.

Typical day, taking care
of my kids and working,

and basically just focusing on my family.

Yeah, life was good until the
day I had the dental work done.

The thing about mercury is
it looks cool, but it's not.

It's really poisonous.

When you mess with mercury, it gets

in your clothes, your games,
your stuff, your furniture,

your house, until everything
it touches is trashed.

Elemental mercury is toxic
primarily through inhalation

exposure.

And people just don't
realize how dangerous it is.

But it is very important to recognize

that you can't see it, you can't smell it,

and there's no way to know that
it's there, except that we know

that it volatilizes into air.

And you'll see it in
literature all the time,

it will volatilize at room
temperature and higher.

That's a very bad
misconception people have.

It will volatilize at anything
above negative 38 degrees.

The higher the temperature,
the more readily it

will volatilize, the quicker
it will be volatilize.

When a woman is pregnant, we
hope that she's never exposed

to mercury vapor, because
we know that it can pass

the placenta and cause
neurological problems

in the unborn baby.

And if we see residences or buildings that

have 10 micrograms per cubic
meter or more of mercury,

then we consider that
it poses a health risk.

And we recommend that people don't

stay in the building or the residence.

10 micrograms is generally
considered inhabitable without

some kind of respiratory protection.

Two schools will be closed
tomorrow after a custodian

finds a small amount of
mercury on the floor of a room

at Picklin Mills High School.

Now, how much mercury are we talking about?

Not very much.

About the amount the size of
the eraser on this pencil.

But school officials explained to us,

it would only take the amount of mercury

about the size of the
sharpened end of this pencil

to contaminate the entire building.

They'll evacuate a
public building for a broken

thermometer.

But each one of your amalgam fillings

contains roughly the
same amount of mercury.

I had one tooth hurting.

So when I went to the dentist
and he looked at my mouth

and looked at the one tooth, but
she's more focused on the fact

that my silver fillings are 30 years old.

And there were eight of them.

And he was telling me that I needed

to get all of these silver fillings out

and I needed to get them replaced.

And I kept saying, well,
this is the only tooth

that's hurting, just this one.

Can we just replace that one?

And I let him talk me into replacing

all the silver fillings on the right side.

When it came time to refill them, he said,

what do you want in there?

Do you want amalgam, or
do you want the composite,

the white version?

And I said, well, what
does insurance cover?

And he said, well,
insurance covers amalgam.

And the composite is a
little more expensive.

And I said, well, oh well, you know,

I've had these other ones
for 30 years, they work fine.

And if that's what insurance covers,

let's just get that again.

There was never a discussion about what

was in a silver filling.

I never gave it a second thought.

So I got four bright,
new, shiny silver fillings

put in on the right side.

And that's when everything started.

I was a professor of
chemistry and biochemistry

at the University of Kentucky.

I'd been doing mercury
research since about 1985.

I came to the University of Kentucky,

and my research here led me
into Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Markesbery had found elevated mercury

in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

So I did a set of studies showing what

heavy metals would do this.

And mercury was one of them I put in.

And at that time, I had no concern

about amalgam fillings, anything
regarding mercury toxicity.

And the results were dramatic.

Phenomenal data that came out was

that mercury and only mercury would

cause the same biochemical abnormalities

as you saw in Alzheimer's disease

using our technology for evaluating

the activity of certain enzymes.

And then all of a sudden,
the problem changed.

It was no longer a scientific
problem that I ran into.

That was easy.

I mean, I could do that.

The problem was political.

When I tried to get funded to
look at mercury as a neurotoxin

and its possibilities of
contributing to Alzheimer's

disease, they shut me down.

My grants were just totally rejected.

And they said something to the effect

Doc Haley has to realize we don't

need to see any more of
these kinds of studies.

And since that time, I have
never gotten another NIH grant.

And that was soul destroying.

I had been funded for 20
some years of doing research.

Then all of a sudden,
I couldn't get a grant.

I had no money to run my laboratories.

And I felt like I just walked off a cliff

and was hanging onto that last branch.

And I was devastated.

And Sandy helped me through that.

When I first wrote in those grants,

I remember talking to
Sandy about how important I

thought they were.

Sandy is a good sounding
board, gives good advice.

And she helped me accept the
fact that my ideas were not

going to be accepted by the
current medical establishment.

My name is Karen Burns.

I was a dental assistant for 24 years.

I got a lot of name tags here.

Time for my biannual dental appointment.

Hopefully, I'll have no cavities.

Going to Dr. Goldberg's office.

Dr. Goldberg is the dentist that I

worked for, I would say,
about seven years, my last job

that I had before I got sick.

And luckily, even though we
don't agree on the issue,

we've maintained a friendship.

And I go to the office parties
and going to lunch with them

after my cleaning today.

So it was a good way to
wrap up my dental career.

From his education and knowledge,

he has a difference of opinion
about what made me sick.

But he doesn't say that I'm not sick.

And he respects me.

And he even respects, I believe,
my activism that I'm doing.

And I tell him all the time, I'm doing it

for him and the girls in the
office to make them safe.

So it's all good.

Hey, Darlene.

How are you?

Hello.

How're you doing?

Haven't seen you in a long time.

Six month.

Long.

My name is Dr. Richard Evan Goldberg.

I am a practicing general dentist

in Monroe Township, New Jersey.

I met Karen the year 2000.

She came to me as a dental
assistant with experience.

I hired her.

She proved herself to be a fun,
vivacious, energetic character

and a good dental assistant.

Now.

Hi, Dr. Goldberg.

Good to see you.

How are you?

Good.

Nice to see you.

How is everything?

Everything's good.

How are the boys?

The boys are excellent.

She worked with me for a few years.

And then at some point, she physically

became unwell to the point
where she could no longer work.

She felt fairly early on
that her medical condition

was as a result to her exposure
of mercury and amalgam.

All right, guys.

Say hello to everybody, OK?

Yeah, thank you.

You're welcome.

Oh.

You're doing great.

OK.

I'll see you later?

All right.

If you have any problems, give me a buzz.

OK.

Discussion about dental
amalgams and its safety have

gone back before I went to school.

Big concern, obviously, is
mercury and the mercury coming

from dental amalgams, and whether or not

it has some kind of negative
effect on individuals

and to what degree can you measure it,

and whether or not it is to such a degree

that it makes the material
unsafe for usage in people.

In the early 1800s, organized
dentistry was still in its

infancy.

As there were no dental
schools or licensing boards,

it was common that craftsmen,
such as the local barber

or blacksmith might also
practice dentistry, which

at the time amounted to little
more than having teeth pulled

or gold fillings placed in cavities.

Dental mercury's introduction
to the United States

came in 1833 by the
Crawcour brothers of France.

They called it Royal Mineral
Succedaneum, a handmade mixture

of melted silver coin shavings
and elemental mercury.

The lower cost of this combination

of mercury with another metal,
otherwise known as an amalgam,

enabled a larger portion of the population

to afford the services
of those dentists who

used amalgam fillings.

But a bitter controversy started
brewing over the use of mercury

as a restorative material.

And by 1843, the world's first
national dental organization,

the American Society of Dental Surgeons,

passed a resolution stating
that the use of amalgam

was considered to be malpractice.

The American Society of Dental Surgeons

asked members to sign a pledge never

to place what the organization referred to

as poison metal fillings.

And those members who did use
amalgam risked being expelled.

And by 1856, the American
Society of Dental Surgeons

disbanded due to loss of membership.

In its place rose the American
Dental Association in 1859,

which to this day continues to promote

the safety of mercury fillings.

Shortly after I had the dental work done,

I had this heavy metal taste in my mouth.

And it was all day, every day.

It was gross.

And so I started buying a
lot of gum and chewing gum

all the time, trying to mask
the taste or make it go away.

Then a few weeks, I started noticing

some weird neurological sensations.

I started having what I
would describe as like pin

prick feeling.

And I had the sensation
of cool water rushing down

the back of my head and down my back.

And I kept just sort of passing it off

as something fleeting that would go away.

But it kept building, the
symptoms kept building.

And then it affected my vision.

And I had blurred vision in one eye.

And then I had this
weird ringing in my ear.

I would be in a conversation with someone,

and there's like this, in my ear,

while I'm trying to talk to someone.

And the biggest effect was
these deep, deep headaches.

And they were so deep, I
mean, deep, deep down in my--

like in my brain.

But when I would go to the doctor,

and they would tell me all of
these possibilities of what

it could be, then that
would kind of make me feel,

OK, this is probably in my head.

It's probably a culmination
of all those things together.

And I'm going to be fine.

And I'm going to ignore this.

So I would just go on about
my business and think,

OK, they're right, they're
right, they're right,

and I'm wrong.

This must be in my head.

This must be in my head.

It was in my head.

It was in my teeth.

So I kept believing them, letting

it get worse and worse and worse,

until the day when I woke
up and couldn't walk.

The first time I saw Sandy
was she was walking down

the farm lanes, and she would
walk up and get on the same

school bus I was riding on.

She's the first girl I ever dated.

When I was about a junior in high school,

I asked her on a hayride.

When I came back from out of
the Army, she picked me up.

We were sitting in her car.

But I asked her to marry me.

And I told her what my goal was, was

to go get a PhD in chemistry and it

was going to be tough for
about four or five years,

because you're not going
to make a lot of money.

Well, it's been very
important to both Boyd and I

to stay balanced.

And we both love nature.

We both love animals.

So this is a perfect place for us.

It's our refuge against
the stresses of life.

So we love it here.

For over 20 years, Boyd
has committed himself

to educating people about the
dangers of mercury exposure.

He has traveled all over the world.

Sometimes, he's gone once a month.

So it's a considerable amount of time.

He has sacrificed a lot in the
way of time, energy, and money.

He doesn't do this for monetary reasons.

He does it 'cause he's so
passionate and committed

to the cause.

It takes a very courageous person

to be truthful and speak
honestly as he has.

I admire him for that.

But since 1991, I've
been giving talks all over

the world.

I was averaging over 30 trips a year.

And I testified in front of Congress.

I've gone to Europe many, many times.

And that's not an easy trip
for an older person like me.

It takes a lot of starch out of you.

The organization that actually
introduced me to the concept

that dental amalgams were releasing

toxic amounts of mercury is
The International Academy

of Oral Medicine and
Toxicology, because they

thought it was causing
a lot of medical damage.

And they were right.

I mean, I agree with them now.

I didn't at the time.

I thought that the FDA nor the ADA

would allow anyone to put something

in the mouths of citizens that
released so much mercury vapor

and not have tested it.

I've given up a huge number
of my weekends with my family

to go to meetings, because
this is a message that

has to get out, that the
amalgams are toxic to people

and are causing a lot of problems.

I don't see my family as much as I used to.

They live here in Staten Island.

I live in New Jersey.

Like my husband said, you know, most people

don't know about mercury poisoning.

They don't know anyone else
with mercury poisoning.

They don't read about it in the news.

They don't hear about it.

So even though I have it,
they don't really understand.

Because they assume-- they
see me, I'm on my feet

and everything is fine.

It's kind of like they
forget that I'm sick.

And I don't want to be sick.

FDA says it's safe.

The ADA really says it's safe.

So they don't understand
how I could be sick from it

and nobody else is.

Amalgams or silver fillings
have been used for over 150

years.

Some critics have claimed
that amalgams are unsafe.

This is not true.

You can't install a
mercury-releasing product

into someone's mouth 2 inches
from their brain and expect not

to see some repercussions.

Amalgam fillings contain roughly 50%

elemental mercury, which releases

mercury vapor that is 100 to 600 times

higher than what the FDA estimates.

The science tells us
that 80% of the mercury

vapor we breathe accumulates
in our bodies very quickly.

But a good portion end up in our brains.

There are vapors, mercury vapors,

that are emitted from dental
amalgam during the mixing

process, during the placement process.

There is no evidence that at this point

that the mercury vapors, say
that were emitted, are harmful.

And I woke up the next
morning, and I got out of bed,

and I was walking sort of like this.

And I had to reach for the door facing.

And I-- as hard as I tried to get my brain

to tell my legs to walk straight,

I couldn't make them work.

It was beyond frightening.

I didn't know if I'd
had a stroke overnight.

I just couldn't figure
out what was going on.

And I called my husband, and
I said, honey, I can't walk.

I was so scared.

I was home alone, and I knew
the kids were about to get up.

And I'm trying to figure out--

I'm not going to be able
to care for these children.

So we went back to the doctor that day.

And the same doctor who
had been telling me it

could be all these other things
and same doctor this day,

after she ran a couple of tests on me,

she said just kind of in callous manner,

well, you've either got
MS or a brain tumor.

So we're going to get you in
for your MRI later tonight.

And we'll get right on this.

I mean, my husband I both
looked at each other thinking,

did we just hear what
we think we just heard.

What just happened?

I've been coming to you for
three or four months telling

you something's wrong, and you're

telling me everything's fine.

And now, you tell me I
have a brain tumor or MS?

From there, we went to see an MS doctor.

And he ran a bunch of tests and came back

and said, at this point, we're going

to hold off on treating
you with any MS medication,

because we want to see you
back in six months just

to kind of see where
things are and kind of get

a better feel of how your body's
going to react to this disease.

And I mean, I am in tears.

Would you please give me these MS shots,

give me something, slow this thing down?

I'm raising babies.

I need you to stop this train.

And he wouldn't give me any medicine.

And now looking back, that was
basically the hand of God just

interceding right at
that moment and saying,

just hold on, hold on, just
wait, there's something better.

I'm Dr. Matthew Young.

I'm a general dentist here in
Hendersonville, North Carolina.

I've been here at this
location for 29 years.

I was a traditional dentist
for about 10 or 12 years

and then found out about
the dangers of mercury

and other dental materials.

So we became mercury-free, not
putting in any mercury amalgam

fillings.

And then when I discovered
The International Academy

of Oral Medicine and Toxicology,
then I became mercury-safe.

What that means is we use
special protective engineering

controls for OSHA to reduce
the exposure of our employees

and our patients to the mercury vapor

when the old mercury fillings are removed.

Well, we've been out here at Dr.

Young's office this week
installing a multipoint mercury

monitoring system that
continuously and sequentially

measures from eight different
sample points throughout as his

dental office.

Almost all of our other
clients that deal with mercury

are required by OSHA and EPA
to measure their facility

throughout the day to make
sure that their employees are

below the ceiling limit, which is

100 micrograms per cubic meter.

Dr. Young has taken a major step here

by being the first
dentist that I'm aware of

to install a multipoint mercury monitoring

system into his office.

He's doing everything that he can

to keep his employees and
himself as well as his patients

save during normal procedures that

have to do with dental
mercury amalgam fillings.

And this was what the
OSHA regulation requires,

is that the dentist is aware
of how much mercury is in his

office, that the employees
are educated about it.

We have a heavy metal
chapter in our OSHA handbook

that the employees have
to read and understand.

And they have to wear
special protective gear,

so it keeps off their skin.

And they're not allowed to breathe it.

And our machine keeps track
of how clean the air is here

in order to stay below
these dangerous levels.

And I think it's incumbent
ethically upon the dentist

to be aware of those risks and
to also monitor and educate

their employees every day.

I just flew in from Santiago, Chile,

where I gave a presentation
to a group of legislators

and researchers down there.

And tomorrow, I give a talk
to The International Academy

of Oral Medicine and Toxicology on how

mercury causes some of the
biochemical abnormalities

that we see in some of
the neurological diseases

such as Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Haley is a research scientist,

an international lecturer,
is a former chairman

of the department of chemistry
at the University of Kentucky.

He has numerous research studies
published in peer reviewed,

medical scientific journals.

Please welcome to the
program Dr. Boyd Haley.

Mercury and only mercury
causes the break down and deep

polymerization of tubulin
off of the neurofibril,

producing neurofibrillary tangles,

which is the hallmark
of Alzheimer's disease.

Not only that, but published studies

repeatedly show that the
widespread exposure of mercury

and its effects on the brain
explains every single aspect

of Alzheimer's disease.

It is the missing piece of the puzzle

that's been literally right
under the noses of researchers

for all these years

Metal amalgams release many,
many micrograms of mercury per

day into our bodies.

So you not only have a toxin
that can do the effect,

you have it placed within
inches of your brain.

And how do you get that across to people?

And I think I do a decent job.

But sometimes, I'm not
so sure it's adequate.

And a lot of people, they want my slides.

Anybody who asked for them, have my slides.

You give my talk, I don't care.

I mean, this is not information
that's secretive or anything.

It's something that should be
out there for everybody to use.

Here I was with six months
to do nothing but wait and get

worse.

And I thought, well,
what else do I have to do

but maybe try to look
into this and figure out

where all this came from.

The very next Sunday at
church, a guy in our classes

said, you know, my brother treats

people who've been diagnosed with MS.

He treats them for heavy
metal toxicity related

to their fillings.

He said, I don't know much about it.

But I know that he's had some success.

And there's something about
there's mercury or something

in these fillings.

He said, do you have any of those?

And I said, well, yeah,
I just got four new ones,

and I have four old ones on this side.

That was my first glimmer
of hope, the first moment

that I had been told anything
that even remotely sounded

like there might be some sort
of hope out there for me.

I could not believe I didn't
know that there was mercury

in these silver fillings.

I couldn't believe it.

I thought, oh, well, this has to be a lie.

I think the majority of people still

do not know what these dentists
are putting in their mouth

and in the mouths of their children.

According to a 2006 nationwide Zogby poll,

76% of consumers did not know
mercury was the main component

of dental amalgam fillings.

But once informed, 92% of respondents

thought their dentist should
be required to inform them

about mercury and
non-mercury dental fillings

prior to treatment.

The majority of dentists are not aware

that under the learned
intermediary doctrine,

health care practitioners are bound

by law to pass along manufacturer warnings

to patients.

We know that's not being done.

In fact, it's worse than you think.

It's prohibited.

Regrettably, the American
Dental Association has

a provision in its code of
ethics to stop dentists from

initiating communications
with patients about the risk

of mercury dental fillings.

This what I call gag rule has unfortunately

been enforced by many
dentist-dominated state

dental boards.

Today, I'm here with
the Pennsylvania Coalition

for Mercury-Free Dentistry.

And we were talking to patients going in

to get free dental care.

And we were letting them know they

were eligible to get a white
filling for no extra cost.

And that would be safer for them.

A lot of the dentists that
came out and dental assistants

were putting their eyes up in the air,

like they were aggravated
that we would come and talk

to the patients like this.

But you know, I wish somebody told me

that I was breathing in
all these toxic fumes.

I had no idea.

And these people in the
school that are being trained,

they have no idea.

Well, I can't remember
when I didn't enjoy fishing.

I mean, my granddad was a person
who liked to fish quite a bit

and took me quite often.

It's always been a major relaxation for me.

Went to graduate school, we ate a lot

of what I either caught
fishing, my wife and I,

or what I shot bird hunting with my dogs.

Catching fish was a supplement to our diet.

And since we didn't have a lot of money,

eating a fish was probably better

than a lot we could buy
in the grocery store.

It's a big, big difference.

And it's kind of sad that
today the kids are told--

everyone's told, don't
eat too many of the fish,

they're too toxic with mercury.

There are fish advisories in
about almost all the water

in the United States.

I think it's sad.

Why go fish, if you can't
eat the fish you're catching.

You're catching something
that's toxic, why--

it just takes the romance and
the livelihoodness out of it.

And I think we should do everything

we can to get our water
and air clean again.

That means we have to
stop all kinds of mercury.

We can't blame just one group.

And the ones that-- things that
you can do something about,

like dental amalgams, that should be done.

The United Nations
Environment Programme reports

that 10% of global mercury usage
is for amalgam tooth fillings.

This results in up to 340
tons of dental mercury

journeying into the environment each year.

In the United States, dentists
are currently the largest users

of elemental mercury.

This accounts for roughly 32
tons of mercury used yearly

to place amalgam
restorations, otherwise known

as silver fillings.

Although the number of amalgams placed

has decreased over the last few decades,

dentists still use amalgam
without precautions.

So the threat of mercury
exposure continues.

Tonight, I continue my
story with a comprehensive look

at efforts to ban silver
fillings across the world.

This year, the US State Department

proclaimed we should phase
down the use of mercury amalgam

fillings during international
treaty talks at the United

Nations.

But the mercury treaty, as it's called,

which would affect every
dentist in the world,

is not a done deal yet.

Whether or not I believe
that the minute amounts of inert

dental amalgam that might go
down into a system really will

affect the water supplies of a community,

I haven't seen any evidence to suggest it,

I'm always open to changing my mind.

Because of the United Nations
mercury treaty recognizing

dentistry as a significant
contributor to environmental

mercury exposure, the EPA is
considering regulations that

would require all dentists to
install equipment that would

capture the dental
mercury before it reaches

the environment.

For over 75 years, consumers
and dental professionals have

looked for the American Dental
Association seal of acceptance

on products.

The ADA seal stands for
quality and effectiveness.

Manufacturers who apply for the seal

must meet certain criteria.

They must provide objective data
supporting the product safety.

You've never done any
safety studies on this product.

I'm the former consumer
representative on the Dental

Products Panel at the FDA.

If amalgam is taken to
a class III by the FDA,

class III would require
manufacturers to prove safety,

which they never had to do.

They're not going to spend
the millions of dollars to try

to prove that mercury is safe
when everyone knows it isn't.

All product claims made
on packaging and labeling are

approved by the ADA.

So you can trust them.

My name's Christopher Shade.

I have a PhD in environmental
and analytical chemistry

of mercury.

I developed a new testing technology

for separating different forms of mercury.

We use that now in clinical testing

to look at how different forms
of mercury go into the body

and build up in different reservoirs

and how they come out.

We've run about 20,000 tests now.

And unfortunately, most mainstream dentists

don't come to me to look for testing.

They're taught that there
is no mercury exposure.

And so the only guys that I look at

are the mercury-free dentists, which means

they're only removing amalgam.

They're not placing it.

And they even stick out
from the regular population

as having higher mercury levels.

So if these guys, who are
taking every step they

can to lower all of their
occupational exposure,

just imagine what the dentists
who take no precautions look

like.

I had a regular life.

Everything was going good.

And when my daughter
was about two years old,

I started to get sicker and sicker.

I finally went to a holistic doctor.

And they asked what I did for a living.

And I said I was a dental assistant.

A dental assistant has the
potential to have a very high

amount of mercury in the brain.

Neurological symptoms happen
to be the most dominant symptom

in the constellation of problems
that mercury can create.

Well, I've been diagnosed
with fibromyalgia and chronic

fatigue.

So they tested my hair and my urine

and found out that I had
full-blown mercury poisoning.

Karen Burns' urinary levels
at the time of her sickness

were well within the range
where this could be an issue.

So she had sufficient exposure to cause

serious neurological effects.

And this was causing my
fatigue, and my muscle pain,

and my lowered immune system, my rashes,

the numbness in my hands
and fingers and feet.

So a lot of these fatigue
symptoms that come along with

the mercury exposure, along
with the emotionality, are very,

very obvious repercussions
of a mercury toxicity.

I worked for over 20 dentists.

None of them ever said amalgam wasn't safe.

They didn't tell anybody that there

were warnings on the labels.

We discovered that when you
remove these old fillings with

the dental drill that a large
vapor of mercury is exposing

the patient and the
employee in the workplace.

So we put in protective
engineering controls

to filter the air, filter the water,

and to reduce the patient
and employees' exposure

to that toxic level of mercury.

I don't particularly have
great concerns with the removal

of dental amalgams.

And like I've said to you,
if something came up tomorrow

where I thought I was conv-- there

was some convincing evidence that it

would show some kind of harm, of course,

then perhaps I would change.

"Barnes versus Kerr,"
David Barnes is a dentist

in Shelbyville, Tennessee.

He hired me, and off we
went against the largest

manufacturer of dental
amalgam in the country,

Kerr Corporation.

What they did was present
evidence that their warning was

Kerr's warnings are published
in material safety data sheets

that they're required to
distribute their product.

But the warning essentially said
that mercury is a neurotoxin.

And it was at least
arguable that all the things

that Kerr was warning
about happened to Burns.

So Kerr's position was,
this is a dangerous product.

We told you it's a dangerous product.

And the case ought to be dismissed,

because you've been adequately warned.

OK, a little history here.

When dentists go to dental school,

they're taught that mixed dental
amalgam is completely inert.

And so when a dentist goes in
to grind out an amalgam filling,

he is creating tremendous quantities

of mercury particulate.

The particulate is bound to the
other constituents of amalgam.

But Burns was absorbing
tremendous amounts, thousands

of micrograms of mercury a
day, and ultimately began

to suffer a very predictable consequence.

Back to our case, Kerr tells
us it's warning is adequate.

We say, no, it's not.

The vast majority of the
mercury going into a system

is from this mixed dental amalgam.

And it was.

And I don't think anyone argued with that.

So is the warning adequate
if it only tells them

that mercury is poisonous?

To my surprise, the district report

said, yeah, it is adequate.

The manufacturer didn't say
that the poisonous mercury would

be any less poisonous when mixed
with the other dental amalgam

constituents.

The appellate court in a published opinion

also felt that the adequacy of the warning

was such that Burns was
or should have been aware

that mixed dental amalgam
was completely poisonous.

I had been pushed by the
FDA, American Dental Association

as somebody that's on the lunatic fringe.

And what's lunatic about, the fact

that somebody is putting
a most toxic metal known

to man in your mouth, and I'm saying,

hey, we really need to look at this.

This may be the cause
of Alzheimer's disease.

We have to do something.

We have to come up with
something that's very dramatic.

I am going to visualize the
mercury vapor rolling off

of these amalgams when
you put a drill on them

or when you abrade them in any way.

This will leave no doubt in people's mind

that there's a lot of mercury
coming out of dental amalgams,

when you put them in,
when you take them out.

I'm very optimistic this may change

the entire attitude of the
American Dental Association.

Dr. Boyd Haley coming from
University of Kentucky up

at Lexington.

And he's going to help us
to put the box together,

where we're going to
visualize the mercury vapor.

Yeah, the first smoking
tooth video shows a 25-year-old

amalgam from an extract a tooth.

And they put it in front
of the mercury lamp,

and you can see exactly how
much mercury is vaporizing off

the filling.

When you see this for the
first time, it's quite a shock

to see the amount of mercury and the volume

that your patients are either
breathing or swallowing.

And from then on, I
knew that I wasn't going

to place anymore amalgams.

And when I remove them, I
was going to do it safely.

I just think the best thing to do

is to keep in mind that our
ethical creed is to do no harm.

I think the biggest inflection from anybody

who first joins the IAOMT is you're

going to have to talk to the same patients

that you just put the mercury
fillings in maybe a year ago,

two years ago, and tell
them that you've learned

this new information about it.

I think you have to come to
terms in your own ethics,

in your own heart as to how
you're going to communicate

that and how you're going to present that

to patients without feeling
like you're contradicting

your previous work.

The most beautiful part
about the whole transition

is that your patient loyalty
really blooms tremendously,

because it seems like
the patients know more

about this than the traditional dentist do.

We're finding out that
mercury's been taking out

a lot of other medicines and
other industries in the world.

And it's soon going to be removed

from dentistry, according to
the UN treaty in 2013, we hope.

So when the times change,
it's wise to change with them.

There's a difference
between someone coming in here

and being concerned about the
safety of the amalgam and after

me educating a patient, who's a lay person,

who's not in the profession and
may just have heard something

from a fairly uneducated
journalist about this,

that I will-- after that discussion,

they still feel that they
would like them removed,

I might consider doing it for them.

OK, this is going to be a lot of money.

It sounds crazy, looks crazy.

And if this works, why
isn't everybody doing it?

And where are we going to
find the money to do this?

And what if it doesn't work and we've

poured all this money down the drain, then

what am I going to do?

And my husband and I talked about it,

prayed about it over several weeks.

And we decided that we needed to
get these fillings out and just

see what happened.

And that was $10,000.

I have a real hard time
with is when you have doctors

espousing removals of dental amalgams,

because they believe that some
systemic illness is the cause

of it.

And within a week of getting
the silver fillings out,

the mercury out of my
mouth, I was 50% better.

The science is not very convincing.

It's not.

Because you can find people
with these conditions

without dental amalgams in their mouths.

The dental industry promotes
a stance that on its surface

seems simple and adequate.

It says that if she got sick from mercury,

then all the dental assistants
would be sick for mercury,

all the dentists be sick from
mercury, but they're not.

But if you really understand the
complexities of biochemistry,

genetics, and genetic susceptibility,

you'd see that that's really
a flawed scientific stance.

Lead will increase the
toxicity of a known amount

of mercury over 100-fold.

And so when people say,
well, we can look at people

and they don't have enough
mercury to be mercury toxic,

well, I would say, you're not that smart.

You have to know what
the lead concentration is

in that person.

Every human body has
a genetic predisposition

to handle toxicity a certain way.

And that's what's so frustrating,

is they just feel like they can dismiss

all of this information,
and all of these studies,

and all of the stories
like mine of people being

cured because not everybody who
has amalgam fillings get sick.

And there's a very strong
biological reason for this.

And it comes down to the
individual's susceptibility.

Most of this is genetic susceptibility.

Certain people will get sick,
will have symptoms at much

lower levels of exposure than other people.

But what I personally would not do is,

if somebody came in with, say,
multiple sclerosis and said I

heard that if I remove all these
dental fillings my multiple

sclerosis is going to go
away, I won't do that.

I will tell them that I
do not believe that that

is the science at all.

I'm not convinced of it
and that I would perhaps

be doing more harm to
them than good in trying

to remove these things.

Dental amalgam has been used
in dentistry for over 150 years

and was grandfathered into
use by the Food and Drug

Administration.

Because of this, the
product was not classified.

In 1976, Congress passed a law mandating

that the FDA classify
all products which had

been grandfathered into use.

After 33 years of ignoring
the congressional mandate

to classify amalgam
fillings, the FDA was sued.

Charlie Brown, National
Council Consumers for Dental

Choice, our mission is to ban
the use of mercury-based dental

fillings known incorrectly
as silver fillings.

And we sought a court order
to order FDA to classify.

The judge Ellen Huvelle said that's enough.

You go into mediation.

You come back here a week from Monday.

And you tell me what date you're
going to classify amalgam,

said that to FDA.

The federal government
is again going to look

into the safety of the fillings
that tens of millions of us

already have.

The fillings in question
are the silver kind.

And the concern here is
mercury, which is an ingredient.

The American Dental Association
insists the fillings are safe,

but many people believe
the mercury can lead

to serious health problems.

I'm going to take the dog for a walk.

OK.

Our whole lives changed because of this.

In the beginning, it was hard
for him to understand this too.

And I was lucky that Nick
went to a health conference

and a holistic dentist was there.

And he lectured.

And then my husband came home
and took his retirement money

out, so that I could get chelation.

That was the first time
that I got the chelation.

So yes, he's been really supportive,

amazingly supportive.

When you get something like this,

you just to go crawl in a hole
and just say, to heck with it,

I'm out.

See ya.

I mean, I never could have made
it through this without Chris.

I mean, he is so strong.

He's strong in his faith.

He's strong emotionally.

He just kept encouraging me and telling me,

it's going to be OK.

We've got such a great marriage.

I mean, she's my best friend.

It just doesn't matter.

Nothing's going to get between
us, including a sickness.

I know how sick she feels,
and I just try to do whatever I

can to help her.

And I think she appreciates that.

It has affected our relationship.

And our life is totally upside down.

Well, it was a good defining
moment in our marriage.

Because when you get married,
what are the vows, you know?

There's sickness and in health, right?

Every step of the way, it's
like, it's going to be fine.

We're good.

We're together.

I'm not leaving.

I love you.

I don't care if you're in a wheelchair.

I don't care if I have to pick you up.

We're just going to pick you up
and take you where we're going

I did what I had to do to be
a supportive husband in every

way possible.

So it wasn't that big of a deal.

It's what I signed up for.

And it's the way it should be.

I'm glad that he had the
foresight to see farther down

the road and to not be
as frightened as I was.

It's brought us closer in some ways.

But there's days when, you
know, it catches up to me,

catches up to her.

It's like, we all want just go to bed

and try to hope that
tomorrow will be better.

But it's not always easy.

We're going to go to Walmart
and pick up some material

to make a box, so we can
video mercury leaving a dental

amalgam, like you would do in
a general chemistry experiment.

The most uneducated person is
going to look at that and say,

that is mercury vapor coming
off of an amalgam that's

been in my mouth for 20 years.

This is a really inexpensive experiment

that the ADA and the FDA can
do this with their lunch money.

And yet, they refuse to do it.

And they'll even make
claims that what we're doing

can't be repeated.

And it's something that's done
in so many general chemistry

laboratories that you can't
deny what it's measuring.

Dr. Matt Young and I are
going to make this box

and demonstrate this.

Hello, Matty.

Oh, hey, boy.

Good to see you again.

Glad to have you.

Thanks for coming.

Yeah.

My pleasure.

It's mercury vapor.

You can't see it in the daylight.

And if you breathe it, you can't
taste it, you can't smell it.

So what we're hoping is that when

we make visuals showing this
mercury vapor rolling off

of these amalgams when you put a
drill on them, that the dentist

will all of a sudden, oh, my
god, these guys aren't lying.

There's a lot of mercury coming off.

We can visually show it.

And this is an approach that's
been developed by chemists,

who activate a mercury lamp.

A mercury lamp is a lamp
that contains mercury vapor

that you run a current through.

And that mercury emits a
light of a special wavelength

that water and air will not absorb.

However, if you place in front of that lamp

an amalgam in a tooth and
you activate that tooth

by brushing it, then millions and millions

of atoms of mercury come off of that tooth.

When the atom of mercury
gets in between the screen

and the lamp, it absorbs that
photon and blocks that light.

And it looks like there is a shadow made

on the screen where the
mercury is absorbing the light.

So what you're seeing
is really an absorbance

of the photon by the mercury atom

that reflects as a shadow on the screen.

In addition, there's a lot
of skeptics out there that think

this is water vapor coming
off the teeth and not actually

mercury.

We want to prove once and for all

that it's actually mercury
vapor that's coming off.

We also have a hole in the
top of the box with which we

will insert our probe.

And this is going to
go to the mercury 3,000

mass spectrophotometer.

And this is going to go
into the top of the box

like this, so that a sample of
the air during these procedures

can be measured accurately.

Are you prepared to take the oath, Senator?

I am.

I, Barack Hussein Obama do solemnly swear--

I will not back down
from protecting our kids

from mercury poisoning.

While the FDA was working
on the classification,

newly elected President
Obama had nominated Dr.

Margaret Hamburg to be
commissioner of the FDA.

It is a privilege to be here
today to discuss my nomination

as commissioner of the Food
and Drug Administration.

To me, this means operating an agency that

is accessible and transparent.

The FDA has responsibility to
ensure that its work is given

by the best possible science and
is undertaken with integrity,

openness, and credibility.

I'm happy to answer any
questions that you may have.

Senator Enzi is going to--

During her confirmation hearing,

she was asked of her
position on dental amalgam.

She's asked about the rule
in the Senate confirmation.

She should have said, I'm
recused from that rule.

Instead she didn't.

Dr. Hamburg failed to
disclose to Senator Enzi that

she was a board member of Henry Schein,

the largest distributor
of amalgam in the US.

After her appointment was confirmed,

Dr. Hamburg inherited the
oversight of the amalgam rule

already in progress at the FDA.

Hamburg had a conflict that
should have resulted in her

dismissal as commissioner.

They made her sign an
ethics contract that said,

I will not participate
in any matter affecting

Henry Schein as long as I own
the stock or stock options.

So she checked the price
of her stock options

a day before the meeting that she knew

was being held, July 1.

She had the meeting to discuss
the amalgam rule with Susan

Runner and other top FDA staff.

She went ahead and worked
on the Henry Schein rule

while she owned the stock options.

In mid July, she said,
OK, I'll recuse myself

for ethical reasons.

She will not disclose
how she recused herself,

when she recused herself,
whether she recused herself.

We take their word for it.

You understand, a recusal is
normally a written phenomenon.

The judge says, I'm off this case.

The commissioner says, I'm off this case.

She never wrote down anything.

Hamburg in the final weeks before the rule,

wrote Henry Schein's lawyer and said,

I want to unrecuse myself.

Will you take back the stock options?

I want to get back in and regulate for you.

I want to regulate for you.

I want it in my recusal
of anything affecting you,

so I can go back, take
my stock options back.

And the guy was happy to do it.

I knew from my research that
getting the fillings out alone

was not enough, because the
mercury from the fillings is

stored in your tissue.

And it particularly likes
the central nervous system.

So I knew that I needed to
take that next step in trying

to decide, do I really
need to get chelation?

And if so, how do I go about this?

And I never would have
figured all of this out

if it weren't for God's guiding hand.

I never will forget,
one day I was at the Y.

And I'd finished my workout, and
I'm just praying and meditating

it.

I'm just saying, you know, God,
if I'm not supposed to do this,

just let me know.

I mean, I'm already better
without these fillings in.

I can already feel my body's calm down.

It's not as agitated.

And I'm not twitching as much.

But I'm good, I can
live with what I've got.

And if I'm not supposed
to do anything else,

if I'm not supposed to go
get chelation or pursue

any other experimental
treatments, I'm good.

Just let me know.

Give me a sign.

Just give me a sign that
I'm on the right track.

And at the place where I work out,

they have a basket of Bible
verses as you walk out.

And they call it the spiritual vitamin.

And I grabbed one on the way out that day.

And it said, you will know the truth.

The truth will set you free.

And I knew.

These treatments were IV treatments.

And I did it for a couple of years.

And then my veins collapsed.

I had no veins left.

I couldn't do it anymore.

So even if I had the money, I don't even

know if I could get chelation
at this stage of the game.

If you've had a bad amalgam
removal or a period where you

had high mercury exposure, often
long after that mercury you are

exposed to is gone, the
damage from that remains.

I don't know what to say, what to do.

I mean, this has been a long haul.

I've been sick now for 15 years.

There's so many days out
of year that I can't even

get out of bed.

You know, every day, you wake up and you

feel like you have the
flu, flu-like symptoms.

And you're just sick as a dog.

And you push yourself, push yourself,

push yourself, because you want to maintain

what little life you can.

My big concern was A,
for her health, but, B,

also for whether or not she was
going down a rabbit's hole with

no end.

And that's-- I may still
feel that way to some degree.

I don't see in my lifetime
it ever getting straightened out

and people ever believing
what happened to me.

A recent study by the Food
and Drug Administration found

no valid evidence that amalgams are unsafe.

That's great news for
patients and dentists alike.

The International Academy of
Oral Medicine and Toxicology,

a scientific organization
made up of dental, medical,

and research professionals,
immediately started combing

through the new rule and
found many glaring errors,

all in favor of the safety of amalgam.

The petition for reconsideration challenged

the FDA final rule on regulatory
grounds and scientific grounds.

We found 27 propositions of error,

and I mean big errors,
in the FDA's final rule.

The public doesn't know it,
because public doesn't keep up

with this.

But the FDA knows it.

Amalgam somehow gets a free pass.

I don't understand it.

And I can only assume that it's
political influence brought

by the FDA that's causing
these aberrant results.

Not everyone agrees
with the new Food and Drug

Administration report that's out this week.

It says, silver dental fillings are safe.

In fact, an FDA--

The final rule of the
classification was a huge

disappointment to health advocates,

as it declared the mercury vapor
released from amalgam fillings

to be safe for anyone and everyone.

With the news that there would be

no constraints upon the product,
Henry Schein's stock soared.

Hamburg writes him the day
the rule comes out and says,

my friendships with Henry
Schein outlasts my recusal,

my friendships outlast my recusals.

Schein's stock jumps a buck and a half.

July 30, the general counsel
writes Margaret Hamburg,

we are indebted to you for
your work as commissioner.

We are indebted to you.

That's the kind of thing
that happens in Washington that

creates in everybody's mind
that we're all corrupt up here.

Well, I'm Congressman Dan
Burton from the 5th district

of Indiana.

And when you find out that
government officials, who

are making decisions regarding
the health of the nation,

are doing questionable things,
it only adds to the problem.

People should have
confidence in the government

that we're trying to do
the best we can for them.

And if the head of the FDA has stock

in a company that makes dental amalgams

and they're making rulings, they
should be recusing themselves.

And if they don't, I think that they're

guilty of criminal activity.

And the reason I say that is because I

am convinced after having been
the chairman of government

reform and oversight for six years

and had numerous hearings on the subject

that the mercury in the amalgam does cause

human neurological problems.

She should not be FDA
commissioner, absolutely not.

I literally put myself in
that doctor's hand and just

went with it.

I am seeing an osteopathic doctor,

began intravenous
chelation of EDTA and DMPS.

It's kind of like chemotherapy.

That's what it's like.

You get an injection, you get an IV,

and you just kind of sit
there for a couple of hours.

And there's this big bag of liquid

being poured into your body.

And it's frightening.

And I made it through the
whole day, and I felt normal.

And then I slept great
and woke up the next day,

and I thought, well, OK, I survived it.

There must be something to this.

Then I went back for my next
treatment the next week.

And then I started feeling so much better.

I mean, I just had like
an extra kick in my step.

I'm thinking, OK, I'm onto something here.

And each treatment just reinforced

what I had researched in.

And it may not work for everybody.

And I'm certainly not saying that it will.

And I think that there's something

to be said of starting early.

In my case, we arrested it early.

We arrested it, contained
it, stopped it, and I'm good.

But there's some people who've been sick

for a long, long time.

And it's hard to reverse damage if it's

been going on for a long time.

I definitely felt vindicated.

And I think I told my husband that.

I said, oh, I feel so vindicated.

I said, now, I mean, look
at me, I'm so much better

and I can't even believe it.

I feel like I'm not
crazy anymore, you know?

I feel like this is valid.

This is real.

More people need to know about this.

And that's when my husband started saying,

well, you need to tell people.

He'd say, honey, you know,
you sure are doing good.

You really need to tell people about this.

This morning is the open public hearing.

Could you state your name?

My name is Karen Burns.

And I was a dental assistant for 24 years,

until I couldn't work anymore.

When I first started dental assisting,

we didn't wear a mask or gloves.

We had a bottle of
mercury and silver pellets

that we put together by hand.

We didn't understand that
these vapors were everywhere.

You must see the damage that it's doing.

Why should anyone have to
suffer this illness when

it can be totally eradicated?

I hope you people just listen
and find it in your heart

to really consider all of this.

It's a real thing.

Thank you.

For the most part, I
generally approached it with

a skeptical eye.

And I did not do that necessarily

because of any ill will, but
because sometimes if you follow

a certain orthodoxy that's wrong,

whether it be a flat Earth
theory or anything else,

you're not getting to truth.

And of course, I think in the
end, you're looking for truth.

We just finished constructing
our visualization box,

which is made out of everyday
materials that you can get

in any hardware store.

Typically in most dental schools,

it's been taught that the mercury is

trapped within the matrix of the amalgam.

And so therefore, we're trying
to visualize here and prove

the fact that there is a
significant amount that

comes off during the
mixing, during the packing.

And then we'd have some
teeth with the amalgam

that's been set for a while.

And we're going to be removing that

with a high-speed dental drill in order

to visualize how much vapor
comes off during that procedure

as well.

The American Dental Association has made

the argument that mercury is
fixed in the amalgam fillings

and it doesn't come out easily.

And what this research that
we're doing here visually shows

is that, when you drill
on an amalgam filling,

that it dramatically exposes
the patient, and the dentist,

and the dental technician to
huge amounts of mercury vapor

that enters the body.

It's even worse than what they imagined.

2,483 micrograms per cubic meter,

and I've never seen levels
of mercury this high.

That's pretty much unheard of
in any type of work environment.

Because it definitely
shows with just absolute fact,

hard science that amalgams when
they are heated with the drill

by drilling on them release
copious amounts of mercury,

of vapor into the air.

Clearly, if you're not measuring it,

you're not monitoring it, and
you're not educating these

employees, then the OSHA
regulations are not being

upheld.

And so I just ask the ADA,
don't you care about your own

people?

I mean, these are people
who are members of the FDA.

And you're exposing them to
high levels of mercury vapor

by its still supporting
the use of dental amalgams.

The ADA's message is just simple.

And it's been this for many, many years.

And that is that amalgam
is a safe and effective

dental material.

It's disconcerting that,
despite all the regulations

regarding mercury in the workplace,

mainstream dentistry still
promotes these fillings

as perfectly safe.

The science hasn't changed.

The science has been this way for decades.

Unfortunately, there's some groups

who don't accept the science, who

like to rely on fear and other factors.

The ADA is a group that just
dismisses and denies without

doing any experiments.

They could be doing the same
experiments we're doing,

showing that mercury doesn't come off.

I want to see them do that.

What patient safety and science shows us,

what science shows us now
is that patient safety is

absolutely protected with
general amalgam material.

When a dentist goes in to
grind down the amalgam filling,

he is creating tremendous
quantities of mercury

particulate.

So for that period of time they're working,

they're 100-fold over the
recommended levels for air

in a workplace.

It's no wonder that people like Karen

are going to have an issue
with being in that environment.

I don't believe that the vapors that are--

the come off from the removal
of an amalgam are going to put

a patient in harm's way.

Nor do I believe it will
put me in harm's way,

although we have masks, of course,

that to some degree protect us.

In dental school, they taught
us nothing about protecting

the dentist, the staff, or
the patients from the dangers

of mercury vapor.

Dental schools ought to
be fearful of major lawsuits,

because this is not a secret anymore.

You can see it coming out.

I mean, the exposure to
mercury to those people

is just tremendous.

We are turning now to the
OSHA Hazard Communication

Standard this is a final regulation.

And there is no escape
for it, for any of us.

Everyone walking around
hazardous chemicals and other

toxic substances has a right
to know of possible dangers

and how to protect themselves.

Health care professionals and
folks all over the country are

asking the Food and Drug
Administration to protect

and inform the public about
the potential dangers of silver

amalgam fillings.

Those include my colleague Stacy Case.

Now, we've been following
Stacy's personal story

for months now, telling
you about her diagnosis

with multiple sclerosis after
a routine dental procedure.

And tonight, Stacy is in San
Francisco sharing her story

with the federal government.

Nearly four years ago, I let
a dentist talk me into having

four 30-year-old silver mercury
fillings replaced because he

said they were cracked.

Your agency at the time, though, the FDA,

had done nothing to warn me,
an educated professional,

that this was a health hazard.

This is a great injustice.

Seven months after that dental
work, I got out of bed one

morning and could not walk.

My children were two and three at the time.

My immediate concern was,
will I be caring for them

or will it be the other way around?

I now know that I and
millions of other Americans

are genetically predisposed
to autoimmune disease.

And these mercury fillings
are the trigger in many cases.

I read several dozen scientific studies.

One such study, 1990 University of Denmark,

proved monkeys with mercury dental fillings

stored it in their spinal
ganglia, pituitary gland,

and many other organs.

This stuff seeps into the body
from the day it is implanted.

Then one day, you reach the tipping point,

like I did, and disease sets in.

Your hand-picked
scientists in 2006 and 2010

have made you keenly
aware of the health risks

and the disease causation.

Please do not ignore them
or injured consumers like me

any longer.

You really want to help
this country get health care

costs under control?

Ban amalgam.

You really want to see a cure
for many autoimmune diseases?

Ban amalgam.

You really want to ensure American moms

like me can play chase with
their children in the yard?

Ban amalgam.

After two decades in the news
business, I know the truth.

And the truth is silver mercury
fillings are causing disease.

And they are making people
sick, keeping them sick,

so help me God.

Use your power and position
for good, Dr. Shuren.

Leave a legacy.

Please right this wrong.

We've gone back and we
looked at the evidence.

And what I can tell you is we intend

to come out with an announcement
by the end of this year.

Since that missed deadline,
the FDA has been silent

on where the ruling stands.

Obviously, this has
been an emotional journey,

but an important one.

And I just hope that my
story affects change.

In San Francisco, Stacy Case.

Scott, back to you.

We've gone back and we
looked at the evidence.

And what I can tell you is we intend

to come out with an announcement
by the end of this year.

And so 2011 came and went.

And sometime early in 2012,
I sent an email to my contact

at FDA.

Response I got was, we'd love to respond,

we sent our document to HHS for approval.

And unfortunately, we don't
have a response back yet.

We sued FDA to compel them
to respond to our petitions

after waiting very patiently
for five, six years.

And they did so.

In January 2015, they came out
with a document that completely

affirmed what FDA had found in
2009, which was that mercury

fillings are completely safe.

We, my team, IAOMT team, we
were all deeply disappointed.

And then we get this
whistleblower document.

It was a document provided prohibitions

on placing mercury fillings
in tens of millions of people.

What happened here?

What happened?

HHS came back and provided
a political solution

to a thorny scientific problem.

HHS put the veto on
this statement of policy

that would have been published by FDA,

but for HHS's political decision,

not scientific, political
decision to not change the way

the game was played.

But don't be deceived, there are hundreds

of peer-reviewed published,
scientific studies

by top authors that associate
the mercury in fillings

with systemic disease.

And so going forward,
what are we going to do?

We're going to go back to court
and take this document that

was issued way back in 2012 that
states what FDA really thought

about all this and ask the court
to reinstate the 2012 document.

That's our plan.

Good girl.

And so coming out here, just very relaxing.

Mandy.

She takes off.

And it's a real good working relationship.

No one's ever put mercury
vapor in an animal that

didn't make that animal sick.

And yet, our government says, but you

can't prove that it's toxic
just because it's there.

The science is there.

It's very clear.

Anyone that has two neurons
left to rub together

can look at the research data and see

that mercury should not be
placed in the mouth of a child

or to anyone.

And yet, you can't get an honest
discussion with our government

or with the medical
authorities about this problem.

We have not had any success,
taken to them the most solid

science, and I mean tons of it.

So, no, I'm upset about it.

And the science is on my side.

United Nations Environmental Programme

is eliminating mercury, because
all the scientists in the world

are worried about mercury
decreasing the health

of all humans from any source.

The overall treaty that was accepted

had amalgams as a product
that needs to be phased out.

And that's really great news to us,

because that means that
we're at the beginning

of the end for amalgam
fillings in the world.

I think the job now is to
educate the American people.

If you go to a dentist who
says the amalgam fillings are

safe and should be placed in your mouth,

then you should find
yourself another dentist.

Despite a wealth of studies
showing the harm of mercury

as released from the product,
the American Dental Association

continues to promote the
safety of mercury fillings

and supports its use for anyone
and everyone without regard

for reproductive status, age,
or any of the known factors that

make a person unusually
susceptible to the effects

of mercury.

Hi.

I'm Dr. Gerry Curatola of The
International Academy of Oral

Medicine and Toxicology.

Our organization has been a leader

in mercury-safe dentistry
for over 30 years.

I know it might be hard for some to fathom

that measuring and visualizing mercury

vapor during routine dental procedures

could be as easy as portrayed
in the movie, but it is.

In fact, if you're skeptical
of the findings in the movie,

we encourage every dental professional

to take the Mercury Measurement Challenge.

Our organization has partnered
with Mercury Instruments USA

to offer a discounted
rental of their equipment

for any dentist who wants to
take the Mercury Measurement

Challenge.

You will find that the
mercury vapor released

during the placement and removal
of dental amalgam fillings

exceeds occupational safety limits that

requires employee protection.

The American Dental Association recommends

that dentists periodically
monitor their office

for dental mercury vapor.

But that suggestion does not go far enough

to make dentists truly aware
of the risks of working

with mercury.

It is important for
every dental professional

to be aware of occupational
safety requirements

to protect and inform our
staff from any toxic exposure.

But it all starts with being informed.

I encourage you to visit The International

Academy of Oral Medicine
and Toxicology website.

Measurement Challenge.

I watch it fall down to the ground,

cut off the things that weighed me down.

There's nothing left I'm
trying to hide, living

life now feeling free inside.

Feeling free inside.

I see the beauty of the sun,
another day has just begun.

I start to dream and start to see,

wonder what the world has for me.

What it has for me.

So I'm moving on.

I'm moving on.

And it feels wonderful.

Yeah, wonderful.

I'm moving on.

I'm moving on.

And it feels wonderful.

Yeah, wonderful to me.