Why SWBHNHST uses well-known useless quack tests of dental amalgam mercury poisoning?

Mr Clarke made this Freedom of Information request to Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust,

1. Given that it has been well-established and well-known for decades that blood mercury level and urine mercury level are useless as indicators of chronic mercury toxification (as documented below)....

Why did the toxicologists of the SWBHNHST / the City Hospital in Birmingham propose in 2010/11 these well-known useless tests in respect of a patient presenting substantial evidence of being disabled by dental amalgams?

2. What scientific or evidential basis existed to justify such proposals?

3. From where did the SWBHNHST toxicologists get that notion of usefulness of those blood and urine tests? Where did that notion originate?

4. What worthwhile purpose could be served by those tests given that the patient already had reported extraordinarily high mercury vapour measurements of 460 mcg/m3 (unprovoked, open mouth) (a world record level, about 100x higher than typical levels)?

DOCUMENTATION:

Goldwater et al. (1964) stated:
“Those investigators who have studied the subject are in almost unanimous agreement that there is a poor correlation between the urinary excretion of mercury and the occurrence of demonstrable evidence of poisoning.”

and a joint statement of the National Institute of Dental Health and the American Dental Association (NIDH/ADA, 1984) stated in 1984 that:
“The distribution of mercury into the body tissues is highly
variable and there appears to be little correlation between levels in urine, blood or hair and toxic effects.”

And later studies have further confirmed that conclusion. Even with normal or low mercury levels in blood, hair and urine, high mercury levels are found in critical organs such as brain and kidney (Danscher et al., 1990; Drasch, 1997; Hahn et al. 1989, 1990, Hargeaves et al., 1988; Lorscheider et al., 1995; Opitz et al., 1996; Vimy et al., 1990; Weiner & Nylander, 1993). Drasch et al. (2001, 2002, 2004) found that 64% of individuals occupationally exposed to mercury vapor and having typical clinical signs of mercury intoxication had low mercury levels in blood. A more recent autopsy study again confirmed the lack of correlation between inorganic (e.g. dental) mercury levels in urine or blood and mercury levels in brain (Björkman et al. 2007).

Bjorkman L, Lundekvam BF, Laegreid T, Bertelsen BI, Morild I, Lilleng P. 2007. Mercury in human brain, blood, muscle and toenails in relation to exposure: an autopsy study. Environ Health 6:30.
Danscher G, Hørsted-Bindsley P, Rungby J. 1990. Traces of mercury in organs from primates with amalgam fillings. Exp Mol Pathol 52:291-299.
Drasch G, Wanghofer E, Roider G. 1997. Are blood, urine, hair, and muscle valid bio-monitoring parameters for the internal burden of men with the heavy metals mercury, lead and cadmium? Trace Elem Electrolyt 14:116-123.
Drasch G, Böse-O'Reilly S, Beinhoff C, Roider G, Maydl S. 2001. The Mt. Diwata study on the Philippines 1999 - assessing mercury intoxication of the population by small scale gold mining. Sci Total Environ 267:151-168.
Drasch G, Böse-O`Reilly S, Maydl S, Roider G. 2002. Scientific comment on the German human biological monitoring values (HBM values) for mercury. Int J Hyg Environ Health 205:509-512.
Drasch G, Böse-O'Reilly S, Maydl S, Roider G. 2004. Response to the letter of the Human Biomonitoring Commission. Int J Hyg Environ Health 207:83-184.
Goldwater, L.J. Ladd, A.C. and Jacobs, M.B. 1964. Absorption and Excretion of Mercury in Man; VII Significance of mercury in Blood. Arch Envir Health. 9:735-741.
Hahn LJ, Kloiber R, Vimy MJ, Takahashi Y, Lorscheider FL. 1989. Dental "silver" tooth fillings: a source of mercury exposure revealed by whole-body image scan and tissue analysis. FASEB
Journal 3:2641-2646.
Hahn LJ, Kloiber R, Leininger RW, Vimy MJ, Lorscheider FL. 1990. Whole-body imaging of the distribution of mercury released from dental fillings into monkey tissues. FASEB Journal 4:3256-3260.
Hargreaves RJ, Evans JG, Janota I, Magos L, Cavanagh JB. 1988. Persistant mercury in nerve cells 16 years after metallic mercury poisoning. Neuropath Appl Neurobiol 14:443-452.
Lorscheider FL, Vimy MJ, Summers AO. 1995. Mercury exposure from "silver" tooth fillings: emerging evidence questions a traditional dental paradigm. FASEB Journal 9:504-508.
NIDH/ADA Workshop on Biocompatibility of Metals. 1984. J Am Dent Assoc 109, September 1984.
Opitz H, Schweinsberg F, Grossmann T, Wendt-Gallitelli MF,
Meyermann R. 1996. Demonstration of mercury in the human brain and other organs 17 years after metallic mercury exposure. Clin Neuropath 15:139-144.
Vimy MJ, Takahashi Y, Lorscheider FL. 1990. Maternal-fetal
distribution of mercury (203 Hg) released from dental amalgam fillings. Am J Physiol 258:939-945.
Weiner JA, Nylander M. 1993. The relationship between mercury concentration in human organs and different predictor variables. Sci Tot Environ 138:101-115.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Clarke

Grainger-Payne Simon (SANDWELL AND WEST BIRMINGHAM HOSPITALS NHS TRUST), Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

Thank you for your e-mail.

 

I will be out of the office on Friday 23 September.

 

If your matter is urgent, please contact my assistant Amanda Winwood on
0121 507 4848.

 

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Mr Clarke left an annotation ()

This is a follow up from the reply at

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/wh...

Grainger-Payne Simon (SANDWELL AND WEST BIRMINGHAM HOSPITALS NHS TRUST), Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

Dear Mr Clarke,

Thank you for your request for information concerning mercury tests.

Your request was received on 23 September 2011 and I am dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, requiring me to respond to you within 20 working days.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.

If you have any queries about this e-mail, please contact me. Please remember to quote the reference number in the e-mail 'subject' box, in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

Simon Grainger-Payne
Trust Secretary & FOI Lead
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

* Tel: 0121 507 4994
È [mobile number] Fax: 0121 507 5636

' Executive Assistant: 0121 507 4847

8 E-mail: [email address]

P Please do not print this e-mail unless absolutely necessary

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Grainger-Payne Simon (SANDWELL AND WEST BIRMINGHAM HOSPITALS NHS TRUST), Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

This message has been hidden. Release of sensitive personal information by the trust, not directly connected to the request for information. If you are the requester, then you may sign in to view the message. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Dear Grainger-Payne Simon (SANDWELL AND WEST BIRMINGHAM HOSPITALS NHS
TRUST),

I would thank you for your reply except that it is not any real reply to any of my reasonable questions here. Rather it is a disgrace.

[Potentially defamatory material removed]

Now please get on with really answering the questions.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Clarke

Grainger-Payne Simon (SANDWELL AND WEST BIRMINGHAM HOSPITALS NHS TRUST), Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

This message has been hidden. Quoted potentially defamatory material included. Substance of message states: "I will investigate further to see whether I can gain some factual responses to your original questions and will revert back to you in due course." If you are the requester, then you may sign in to view the message. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Dear Grainger-Payne Simon (SANDWELL AND WEST BIRMINGHAM HOSPITALS NHS
TRUST),

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Clarke

Grainger-Payne Simon (SANDWELL AND WEST BIRMINGHAM HOSPITALS NHS TRUST), Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

Dear Mr Clarke,

It has been brought to my attention that you have made direct contact with Professor Vale this evening subsequent to our e-mail exchange earlier.

The content and nature of your contact with him is inappropriate and I request that you refrain from any further approaches directly with the doctor concerned.

The Trust has already committed to reviewing your original FOI request to determine if any further information can be provided to you.

Any future communication between us needs to take place during usual business hours.

Thank you.

Simon Grainger-Payne
Trust Secretary & FOI Lead
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

Tel: 0121 507 4994
[mobile number]
Fax: 0121 507 5636

Executive Assistant: 0121 507 4847

E-mail: [email address]

P Please do not print this e-mail unless absolutely necessary

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Dear Grainger-Payne Simon (SANDWELL AND WEST BIRMINGHAM HOSPITALS NHS
TRUST),

Thank you for your update message but I don't agree with the characterisation of my communication to this so-called "expert" so-called "Professor" Vale as being inappropriate. I there had the decency to let him know what the issue was and to provide some response. Would that anyone in the NHS scam had ever shown so much as a grain of honesty to myself. Infinitely more "inappropriate" is the lack of any honest answers and the outright charlatanism that has devastated my own life and many others besides and to which we have been responded only with endless lies from supposedly "distinguished" "experts" living lives of luxury at the personal expense of us victims. That's the real inappropriateness against which a few true non-abuse words are utterly trivial flimflam. It's not my fault if the ugly truth caused by others is something they'd prefer not to hear.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Clarke

Dear Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust,

Indeed it is symptomatic that he sends you that drivel complaint when he should be sending a massive apology instead. I suggest that speaks for itself far more about the man than any words of my own ever could.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Clarke

Richard Taylor left an annotation ()

A potentially defamatory annotation has been removed from this thread.

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Richard - WhatDoTheyKnow.com volunteer

Richard Taylor left an annotation ()

A further potentially defamatory annotation has been removed, along with an annotation republishing some of the sensitive personal information we had hidden.

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Richard - WhatDoTheyKnow.com volunteer