By Carol Boodwin Blick – September 20, 2023 Friends, Fluoride Action Network (FAN) Director Stuart Cooper provides this update on the status of our federal EPA fluoridation lawsuit: 1. We’re just over four months away from the January 29th, 2024 start date of the final phase of our federal lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the neurotoxicity of fluoridation chemicals. The Court has scheduled two weeks to hear testimony and cross-examination of expert witnesses focused on new evidence and science published since the last trial dates in 2020, including the National Toxicology Program's 6-year systematic review of fluoride's effect on the developing brain. In the meantime, the final depositions are being conducted by FAN’s attorneys, and expert witnesses for both the plaintiffs and defendants have been selected and are currently preparing. The Court is expected to make a ruling following this final phase of the trial. 2. Mark your calendars: we're a month away from the next trial status hearing on Tuesday, October 17th, at 2:30 PM (Pacific) / 5:30 PM (Eastern). We'll send out a reminder with the Zoom information as we get closer to the hearing. At the most recent status hearing held in July, very little was discussed, though the judge did ask attorneys an important question. He asked if they had a preference for whether the last phase of the trial should be held in person in the Federal Courthouse in San Francisco or virtually via Zoom like the first phase of the trial. An in person trial could create travel complications for some expert witnesses, increase costs substantially for both parties, and severely restrict the number of people able to watch the proceedings. Attorney Michael Connett, representing FAN, stated that we would prefer the trial be by Zoom to better accommodate international experts and to allow greater viewing access for the public. However, while attorneys for the EPA admitted that the Zoom format worked surprisingly well during the first phase of the trial, they stated–without explanation-–that their preference would be for an in person trial with limited public viewing. The judge shared FAN's preference for a virtual trial and plans to proceed via Zoom unless otherwise directed by updates to the federal court system guidelines. This is another win for FAN, as well as for the public that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and EPA clearly don't want watching the trial. 3. The NTP report on fluoride's developmental neurotoxicity has yet to be published and it's unclear when or if it will actually be published. The date of its publication won't impact the trial because the judge previously stated that he's willing to move forward in January using the final unpublished version that is publicly available and was unanimously approved by the NTP's Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC) in May. While the BSC recommended that the NTP publish the State of the Science report themselves and have a medical journal publish the meta-analysis as soon as possible, evidence obtained by FAN through the Freedom of Information Act indicates that the decision for final publication will likely be political rather than science-based and made by Assistant Secretary of Health, Dr. Rachel Levine, rather than the NTP Director, Dr. Rick Woychik.