Latest news with #Novella
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. On Fluoride: ‘The More You Get, The Stupider You Are'
As Donald Trump's Health Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy could pursue a rigorous, high-quality study regarding the efficacy of fluoride in drinking water and whether or not it's hazardous to our health. Instead, he's glommed onto a flawed study on the matter and now we're here, with Kennedy confidently telling the president at a cabinet meeting Wednesday that 'all the science on fluoride' agrees that 'the more you get, the stupider you are.' Kennedy mentioned the 'finding' as part of his justification to attempt to change federal guidelines on fluoridation of drinking water. '[EPA Administrator] Lee Zeldin and I are working together to change the federal fluoride regulations, to change the recommendations, and we're looking at the science now,' he told Trump. 'In August, the national toxicity program... did a meta review of all the science on fluoride and found that there's a direct inverse correlation between fluoride exposure and low IQ in children.' 'So the more you get, the stupider you are.' Like many of Kennedy's scientific utterances, he's dabbling in half-truths. While meta-analyses of fluoride in drinking water have suggested there may be an inverse association between fluoride exposure and children's IQ scores, the data itself is riddled with problems. Steven Novella, M.D., a clinical neurologist at the Yale University School of Medicine, debunked the findings in a blog for Science-Based Medicine in 2023. Novella's criticisms are primarily twofold: The studies relied upon are predominantly from communities in China, where the water is naturally fluoridated with much higher concentrations of fluoride than is found in U.S. water. While the CDC recommends 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water, some of the data was as high as 16 milligrams per liter. Even the data with high levels of fluoride exposure isn't all that compelling with respect to cognitive function. 'The effect, in other words, if it is real, does not appear to be clinically dramatic,' said Novella. 'Of course, all potential neurotoxicity to the developing brain should be taken very seriously. Every IQ point is a precious human resource,' Novella wrote. 'What I think all this means is that current drinking water fluoridation levels are safe, and provide a significant benefit for dental health. But also, we need to conduct higher quality studies to show if there even is a real neurotoxic effect, and to zoom in on the levels in managed drinking water.' The federal government already leaves fluoridation decisions up to state and local governments. To the great dismay of the American Dental Association, Utah banned fluoride in its public drinking water in March, becoming the first state to do so. Florida is poised to follow suit. The American Dental Association strongly supports water fluoridation. Evidence suggests the mineral is strongly correlated with decreased dental diseases. RFK Jr. Says He Plans To Tell CDC To Stop Recommending Fluoride In Drinking Water Republicans Are Lending Support To 1 Of RFK Jr.'s False Claims RFK Jr.'s Sister Issues An Urgent Warning For Americans About Her Brother Utah Bans Fluoride In Public Drinking Water
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Yahoo
Texas Woman's Drug-Fueled Paranoia Ends in Unfathomable Crime Against Her Own Elderly Grandmother. And Now, the Verdict is In
Behind the spotlight of police brutality and justice rallies in 2020, a very sinister crime occurred claiming the life of a 70-year-old woman. The woman's granddaughter was charged with her killing and now, the judge has delivered a verdict determining her fate. Let's rewind. Back in February of 2020, police said they arrived at a 'chaotic scene' when they responded to a home on the 8500 block of Spotted Deer in San Antonio. Police said Octavian Jones was home getting ready for work when his sister, Tamera Laws, walked in and apologized for something she'd done, per the San Antonio Express-News. Jones then walked into their grandmother's room and found her, Dorris Ruth Novella, dead on the floor. Police reports say Novella's face was bloodied and nearly unrecognizable. Following the autopsy from the medical examiner, police determined Laws choked, stabbed, and repeatedly struck Novella with a hammer resulting in her death, per KSAT's report. After being charged with Novella's murder, Laws insisted she was under mental delusion during the time of the killing. She testified during trial that she became addicted to methamphetamine while working as an escort which resulted in her hearing voices, per News4A. 'I would hear voices in my head telling me that people were trying to kill me. I was like, 'I know my grandma's trying to kill me.' I was afraid that my grandma was going to do witchcraft on me,' she said on the stand. Additionally, she claimed during trial that a phone call with her father moments before the killing prompted her to commit the act because he told her she was going to 'end up chopped up and sent to him in a box by Monday.' She then testified that during the incident, she felt 'the energy' on her and believed she had to 'beat it out' of her grandmother. A few medical experts also testified, saying Laws exhibited evidence of a degrading mental state, per the reports. However, prosecutors said she was never reported to have any symptoms while in jail. There were even more suspicious findings that contradicted Laws' insanity argument. Experts testified during her trial to finding a strong odor of Pine-Sol coming from the room where Novella was found, per the San Antonio Express-News. They also testified to finding Laws' DNA on a cleaner bottle found in the room. Prosecutors argued Laws was well aware of what she did, using the expert testimonies to suggest she tried to conceal the crime scene, per the reports. Laws waived her right to a jury trial leaving her fate up to a judge. Friday, Feb. 28, the Bexar County judge found her guilty of murder, per KSAT. Her sentencing will be scheduled at a later date. Laws faces life in prison. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
