American University Washington College of Law Partners with Children's Dental Health Project to Conduct Study on Community Water Fluoridation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 28, 2011 –American University Washington College of Law’s Health Law and Policy Project, housed within the law school’s Program on Law and Government, is partnering with the Children’s Dental Health Project to create and maintain a unique and comprehensive online database of laws, legal reforms, and legal challenges related to community water fluoridation in the United States.
Initiated and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the “FLUID” database will contain the most up-to-date information on the legal status of community water fluoridation across the United States. FLUID is intended to be a user-friendly tool that can provide information on the legal and policy issues surrounding community water fluoridation, and has been designed to allow users to search for information related to specific types of legal challenges to fluoridation. Based on this information, states and municipalities will be able to compare their current or proposed policies with others across the country and make informed decisions based on legal fact. The FLUID database will be available in February 2011.
In addition, the project will support a Health Policy Fellow to conduct research on policies and legal cases related to water fluoridation. Laurel Goldbert, an LL.M. candidate in Law and Government, has been named the Health Policy Fellow for the project. A cum laude graduate (2005) of the University of South Carolina School of Law, she is specializing in health law and policy.
“We are very pleased to collaborate with the Children's Dental Health Project on the public health issue of community water fluoridation,” said Corrine Parver ’82, director of the Health Law and Policy Project. “We look forward to producing valuable information that is user-friendly and easily accessible.”
Health Law and Policy Project, American University Washington College of Law
Housed within the law school’s Program on Law and Government, the Health Law and Policy Project features an LL.M. Specialization in Health Law and Policy that prepares attorneys to make a difference in the ever-changing field of health law. Each academic year, more than a dozen health law courses are offered that cover topics such as medical liability, food and drug law, disability rights, managed care, genetics, health policy, fraud and abuse prevention, international health organizations, and public health. Students can earn academic credit for work experience through externships with health care associations, government agencies, and law firms focusing on health industry clients.
American University Washington College of Law was the first law school in the United States founded by women. Since its founding in 1896, the law school community has been grounded in the values of equality, diversity, and intellectual rigor. The law school’s nationally and internationally recognized programs (in clinical legal education, trial advocacy, international law, and intellectual property among others) and dedicated faculty provide its 1700 J.D., LL.M., and S.J.D. students with the critical skills and values to have an immediate impact as students and as graduates, in Washington, D.C. and around the world. For more information, visit wcl.american.edu.
Children’s Dental Health Project
Founded in 1997, the Children's Dental Health Project is a national non-profit organization with the vision of achieving equity in children's oral health. The Children's Dental Health Project (CDHP) designs and advances research-driven policies and innovative solutions by engaging a broad base of partners committed to children and oral health, including professionals, communities, policymakers and parents. We work to eliminate barriers to preventing tooth decay to ensure that all children reach their full potential.
Pediatric dentist, Dr. Burton Edelstein, founded CDHP to be the voice for children and their oral health. The organization was purposefully named a "Project" to reflect the reality that tooth decay is a solvable problem. As an alternative to efforts that treat one child at a time, CDHP works on solutions that impact all children and their oral health.
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