Health Care — Fluoride removal push concerns experts

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View Online Health Care Health Care The Big Story  Removal of fluoride from drinking water worries experts The Trump administration's efforts to discourage the incorporation of putting fluoride in drinking water will have serious health consequences, experts warn.   © Adobe Stock The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced earlier this week that it will "expeditiously review new scientific information on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water."     The move comes after a judge directed the EPA to investigate the use of fluoride in drinking water due to potential concerns over the mineral.    It also comes after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told reporters that he would order the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) to stop recommending the mineral be added to drinking water.     Fluoride helps prevent cavities in teeth and can be found naturally in water — but at levels that are too low to offer any benefit to people. Municipalities have been adding fluoride to drinking water to mitigate tooth decay for the last 80 years.     Adding the mineral to water can help reduce cavities by about 25 percent in both children and adults, according to the CDC.   More than 209 million people in the U.S. — 72.3 percent of the U.S. served by a public water system — had access to fluoridated water in 2022, and 11 million people had access to community water systems with naturally occurring levels of fluoride above the recommended concentration, according to the agency.       Scott Tomar, spokesperson for the American Dental Association and professor at the College of Dentistry at the University of Illinois, Chicago, told The Hill good dental health is beneficial for Americans overall health.     "The mouth, the teeth, have a substantial impact on pretty much every aspect of people's lives — certainly their health," he said. "An infection of your tooth becomes an infection of the surrounding area and often spreads to other parts of the body."  Welcome to The Hill's Health Care newsletter, we're Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads  How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond: CMS tells states Medicaid funds cannot be used for gender-affirming care The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is urging states to not use Medicaid funds for gender-affirming care for minors, specifically gender reassignment surgeries or hormone treatments.   "As a doctor and now CMS Administrator, my top priority is protecting children and upholding the law," Mehmet Oz, the recently confirmed agency head, said in a statement Friday.   "Medicaid dollars are not to be used for gender …  Full Story Democratic-led states sue Education Department for ceasing access to COVID funds A group of Democratic-led states sued the Education Department on Thursday in an effort to regain access to hundreds of millions of dollars in pandemic relief aid the department abruptly cut off late last month. In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, 16 Democratic attorneys general and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) argued the Education Department violated federal law by blocking access to the funds, …  Full Story Trump administration refers Maine to DOJ over transgender athletes The Department of Education on Friday referred a Title IX investigation into Maine schools to the Justice Department after the state failed to reach a resolution with the Trump administration over a finding that it violated federal anti-discrimination law by allowing transgender students to participate in girls' sports.   Full Story In Other News  Branch out with a different read: Trump administration adds immigrant Social Security numbers to 'death list' in deportation push The Trump administration directed the Social Security Administration (SSA) to place more than 6,300 migrants on its list for tracking dead people, blocking their ability to work in a move it hopes will encourage them to "self-deport." Full Story Around the Nation  Local and state headlines on health care: Nevada senator demands answers after DOGE-led cuts to state health care grants (The Nevada Independent)  Iowa state report finds majority of maternal deaths were preventable (Iowa Public Radio)  ALFA Health Plan bill to insure farmers passes Alabama House (WSFA)  What We're Reading  Health news we've flagged from other outlets: Here's another sign Musk's power is waning (Politico)  Trump fired the top HHS watchdog. She says the future of health care oversight is grim if partisanship wins out (Stat)  She set the record for living longest with a pig kidney. Then it failed. (USA Today)  What Others are Reading  Most read stories on The Hill right now: Social Security Administration 'will be using X to communicate' moving forward The Social Security Administration (SSA) unveiled Thursday that it would use the social platform X to make announcements going forward, instead of … Read more White House responds to Supreme Court ruling on mistaken deportation The White House on Friday responded to the Supreme Court's ruling that the Trump administration must "facilitate" the return of a Maryland man mistakenly … Read more   You're all caught up. See you next week!  Check out The Hill's Health Care page for the latest coverage. Like this newsletter? Take a moment to view our other topical products here 📩 Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  400 N Capitol Street NW Suite 650, Washington, DC 20001 Copyright © 1998 - 2025 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.

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