THE director of public health for NHS East Lancashire, Dr Ellis Friedman, has backed the adding of fluoride to the region’s tap water to improve dental health. The reason given is that it is unethical to withhold dental treatment for deprived people.
However the European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine 1997, says medical intervention may only be carried out after the person concerned has given free and informed consent. Under the 1985 Gillick ruling a minor may give consent if they are competent.
The Department of Health Reference Guide to Consent for Examination or Treatment 2001 states that for consent to be valid, it must be given without pressure or influence from others including health care professionals.
If the purpose of adding fluoride to water is to provide a dental treatment, then is it not the case that the director of public health, the health authorities and councils are being asked to approve a health treatment which contravenes the legal and ethical principle of obtaining valid consent before treatment?
P COOPER, Waterside Terrace, Waterside.
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