Oct 12, 2026 · 57 min · 14 segments
Attorney Michael Connett has spent more than two decades investigating fluoride—and seven years battling the Environmental Protection Agency in federal court over the risks of adding it to drinking…
Michael ConnettGuestKendall NelsonHostYou know, the surgeon general, Joe Ladapo of Florida, has, has praised you for being...
This court case is the reason that they took the fluoride out of their water.


And Dr. Ladapo, in an interview with Governor DeSantis, um, discussed how it was the court's findings that really sort of, um, brought this issue to his attention, and he, 'cause he previously, as with many others in the public health community, thought that fluoridation was a safe and effective program.

And so the court's findings really sort of led him to reassess this policy.

Um, and then after Dr. Ladapo issued that recommendation and guidance, the Florida legislature ended up banning fluoridation.

So this is the first time ever that you have states banning this policy of fluoridation, so it is one of the, um, gratifying elements of the, of the court's decision, is that we've already seen real policy action being taken.

Just those two states, although Hawaii, I believe, does not have any communities that fluoridate their water.

But I don't believe that's a ban, I just believe that they just have not yet fluoridated any of Hawaii.

Besides Hawaii, I think every other state in the US has at least some communities that fluoridate.

And unfortunately, there are about 18 or 20 states that mandate- Fluoridation for every single community that has, like, a certain number of people being provided public water, like over 5,000 or over 10,000 people.
Before we go more into the court cases, can we just back up a little bit, and can you talk to us about, like, what is fluoride? Where does it come from? I had always heard that it was a, kind of a toxic waste product that was being put into our water.
Can you explain just the very basics of what fluoride is and what they're putting in the water?

Well, for starters, fluoride, as with other toxic elements like lead and arsenic, does occur naturally in the Earth's crust, okay? So it, it is natural in that sense.
You know, the surgeon general, Joe Ladapo of Florida, has, has praised you for being...
This court case is the reason that they took the fluoride out of their water.


And Dr. Ladapo, in an interview with Governor DeSantis, um, discussed how it was the court's findings that really sort of, um, brought this issue to his attention, and he, 'cause he previously, as with many others in the public health community, thought that fluoridation was a safe and effective program.

And so the court's findings really sort of led him to reassess this policy.

Um, and then after Dr. Ladapo issued that recommendation and guidance, the Florida legislature ended up banning fluoridation.

So this is the first time ever that you have states banning this policy of fluoridation, so it is one of the, um, gratifying elements of the, of the court's decision, is that we've already seen real policy action being taken.

Just those two states, although Hawaii, I believe, does not have any communities that fluoridate their water.

But I don't believe that's a ban, I just believe that they just have not yet fluoridated any of Hawaii.

Besides Hawaii, I think every other state in the US has at least some communities that fluoridate.

And unfortunately, there are about 18 or 20 states that mandate- Fluoridation for every single community that has, like, a certain number of people being provided public water, like over 5,000 or over 10,000 people.
Before we go more into the court cases, can we just back up a little bit, and can you talk to us about, like, what is fluoride? Where does it come from? I had always heard that it was a, kind of a toxic waste product that was being put into our water.
Can you explain just the very basics of what fluoride is and what they're putting in the water?

Well, for starters, fluoride, as with other toxic elements like lead and arsenic, does occur naturally in the Earth's crust, okay? So it, it is natural in that sense.
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