If you care about public health attend meeting

Dear Editor,

There is a crisis brewing at the St. Clair County Health Department. On January 8, the St. Clair County Board of Commissioners did not re-appoint two of the three members on the Advisory Board of Health who have questioned the extremely political actions of Dr. Remington Nevin, the Medical Director, who mandated the closure of the Yale and Capac Teen Wellness Clinics.

Instead, the Commissioners re-appointed Dawn Fulk and Stephen Smith, and appointed new members Paul Urben and Joseph Hayes, all of whom are likely to support the extremist views of Dr. Nevin.

Dr. Nevin is a follower of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He believes the county should ban the fluoridation of drinking water, he discourages vaccinations, and he has suggested that the overwhelming majority of public health physicians in Michigan are not just Democrats, but radically so. He has also stated, “I am largely working to counter the radical agendas of many past and current state public health officials.”

Dr. Nevin seems to want to use our county mainly to advance his personal political agenda. He doesn’t appear to be much concerned with public health. A Public Health Department should be based on scientific consensus, not a political agenda.

Dr. Nevin’s crusade to fight state public health officials and push the unproven beliefs of RFK, Jr. will likely result in many lawsuits against the county that taxpayers will have to pay for. It could result in people dying, needlessly.

County Commissioners Steve Simasko, David Rushing, Joi Torello, Kerry Ange, and Paul Zeller voted to appoint only members to the Advisory Board who will support Dr. Nevin. At the next Advisory Board meeting on January 21, the board is expected to recommend that the positions of Health Officer and Medical Director be combined, in order to give total control of the Health Department to Dr. Nevin.

Anyone who cares about public health in St. Clair County should attend that meeting and speak out. It will be at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 21, in the Commissioners’ Room on the 2nd floor of the County Administration Building, 200 Grand River Avenue, Port Huron.

For more information, you can go to the Blue Water Common Ground Coalition Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/profile.

— Fred Fuller
Yale