San Diego, California (PRWEB) April 13, 2012
On April 10, 2012 Honorable Janis L. Sammartino granted the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California's ("Water District") motion to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to stop the Water District from adding non-FDA approved drugs to public drinking water. See Foli v. The Metropolitan Water District in the Federal Court for the Southern District of California, Case No. 11:CV:1765.
The attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug & Bhowmik filed a brief opposing the Water District's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that Water District should be stopped from distributing a drug through the public water systems because the drug has not been approved by the FDA to fluoridate public drinking water to fight tooth decay. According to the opposition filed by the California attorneys at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik, “this action is brought to seek redress for the unlawful and unconstitutional medication of Plaintiffs by Defendant Metropolitan Water District of Southern California using an unapproved drug.” Specifically, the lawsuit saught to stop the Water District's alleged practice of “injecting hydrofluosilicic acid into the water supply for the purpose of treating disease and dental cavities” given “Hydrofluosilicic acid has never been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of disease or dental cavities.”
However, the Honorable Janis L. Sammartino disagreed, ruling that the FDCA does not give rise to a private right of action and on this basis dismissed the lawsuit against the Water District.
When asked about the court's ruling, manaing partner of Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik, Norm Blumenthal, stated, "We plan on appealing the court's decision to dismiss this case against the Water District." Blumenthal added, "The action of the Metropolitan Water District of adding a drug (HFSA) to our drinking water for medical purposes without first obtaining FDA approval of this drug for such purposes is illegal and needs to be stopped."
Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik is an employment law firm with offices located in San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The firm dedicates its practice to contigency fee employment law work for issues involving overtime pay, wrongful termination, discrimination and other California labor laws.