More than 40 organizations have called on the Biden-Harris Administration to appoint a chief dental officer of the U.S. Public Health Service who is committed to ending the use of mercury fillings in federal programs.
Four things to know:
1. The organizations represent children, the environment, ethics, consumers and health professionals, according to an Aug. 17 news release from the Consumers for Dental Choice, a nonprofit dedicated to ending the use of mercury in dentistry.
2. The FDA recommended in September 2020 the end of amalgam use in children, young women and in people with kidney and neurological conditions.
3. The nonprofit said HHS officials have resisted implementing the FDA's recommendations and called on Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine to fill the vacant chief dental officer role with someone who will immediately end the use of mercury dental fillings in children and pregnant women and then phase out its use completely in federal programs.
4. Rueben Warren, DDS, said the failure of government agencies to comply with the FDA recommendations were "a clear and convincing violation of medical ethics."