Removing fluoride from Miami-Dade’s water supply is foolhardy and dangerous | Opinion

Preventive measures

After more than 50 years of practicing and teaching pediatrics in Miami-Dade County, I have witnessed the pain and horrific suffering of children and families who were ravaged by diseases which are now preventable and in some cases treatable, if not discovered too late.

I have seen babies and children die or suffer from blindness, deafness and lifelong effects of diseases and neurological damage, including cerebral palsy and severe learning disabilities. Secondary effects include broken marriages and siblings who, exposed to these tragedies, cannot forget the pain and suffering. In many cases, the financial costs of these conditions are devastating.

I congratulate Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava for taking a brave and well informed stance on fluoride. She has used sensitivity and sensibility on an issue that should not be controversial.

We have the tools to prevent many conditions, including tooth decay. To deny them is foolhardy and dangerous. This should not be a political issue. If only all or our elected officials had the same empathy. There is much medical pain and suffering in this world and we owe it to humanity, if we can, to mitigate it.

Dr. Philip Paul

Miami

Saving democracy

Looking at the many ways the Donald Trump administration has been harassing critics, law firms, universities, judges and the news media, I conclude that America has crossed the line into competitive authoritarianism.

Most modern authoritarian leaders are elected. They maintain their power through arrests, tax audits, defamation suits, politically targeted investigations and more, to punish and silence their opponents. They either buy or bully the media and civil society until opposing voices cave to their power.

South Florida’s three elected U.S. representatives and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, are all Trump MAGA supporters and are complicit in helping Trump turn the country into a dictatorship. Citizens are slowly waking up to this fact and are working to vote these people out.

Be a part of the effort by supporting good people who want to run for office and uphold the Constitution. Our democracy depends on it.

Dewey Steele,

Redland

Too much green?

Presidential recreation has been the subject of criticism for decades, regardless of party affiliation. One president was known for frequenting Martha’s Vineyard, another for escaping to Delaware’s beaches. Nixon’s favorite was Key Biscayne. Critics decry the high cost to taxpayers of President Trump golfing at his own club in Palm Beach.

The Miami Herald should investigate and compare the cost of Trump’s recreation to that of previous presidents, with adjustments for inflation and possible increased security costs due to real threats on his life.

It’s hard to imagine how golfing at Mar-a-Lago could cost taxpayers more than any other presidential recreational activity.

Michael S. Mills,

Hendersonville, NC

Medicaid helps

I have held the hands of worried parents in clinic waiting rooms and helped seniors navigate healthcare options for 15 years. I’ve witnessed Medicaid’s life-changing impact firsthand. Each day, I meet Floridians whose stories rarely make headlines: the single mother whose child receives life-saving treatments, the grandfather whose nursing home care is covered, the rural family whose local hospital remains open, all thanks to Medicaid.

Congress is planning to cut Medicaid funding by more than $700 billion over the next 10 years. Nearly 4 million people in Florida rely on Medicaid for their health insurance and the proposed cuts put that vital coverage at risk.

When a child with asthma can’t access medication or a senior loses nursing home coverage, they don’t simply disappear — they end up in emergency rooms, with more severe conditions, mounting medical debt and higher costs, which we all bear. I hope Congress rejects these proposals that would harm our most vulnerable neighbors while weakening Florida’s economy.

Nicole Licairac,

MPH Community Health Specialist,

Florida Health Justice Project,

Miami

Abandoning Afghans

Re: the May 14 story, “DHS terminates Temporary Protective Status for 9,000 from Afghanistan living in U.S.” The report stated that “improved conditions in Afghanistan” would not prevent them from returning home. That is obviously not the case.

Almost all Afghans on TPS are interpreters and other allies of the U.S. military who, with their immediate families, would be subject to death or other severe penalties should they return. It is absurd the Trump administration could propose ending a lifesaving program for those who helped us during that 20-year war.

As a veteran, I am ashamed the U.S. has abandoned all honor. We are losing our good name in pursuit of political gimmicks. I hope those members of Congress who value the military tell President Trump to not dishonor the U.S. and threaten the lives of thousands just to please the MAGA base.

Eric Tullberg,

Palmetto Bay

Stormy news

The federal government’s spending cuts to the National Weather Service, specifically as it affects hurricane forecasts, are actually beneficial to our mental health.

Annually, five or six days before a possible “hit” by a hurricane, an onslaught of updates contributes to mass hysteria, significant anxiety, a run on the supermarkets and more.

All we need is a short, five-minute update every hour. Hopefully, this will happen.

Guillermo A. Martinez,

Coral Gables

Misused funds

Given the choice to spend $45 million on a parade or rehiring some of the laid off federal employees who make Americans lives easier, most Americans would chose the latter.

This parade for President Trump is a prime example of everything DOGE was trying to eliminate.

Art Young,

West Kendall

Special quality

Well known facts about Joe’s Stone Crab restaurant are always great to read in magazines all over the country. The success of the restaurant over so many years and its history is certainly impressive. However, that pales next to the Joe’s ad in the May 16 Miami Herald, written by Joe’s fourth generation family member Stephen Sawitz, who also is chief operating officer.

Reflected is a spirit of generosity and care that is so needed. The warm invitation by a son to share a meal, learned from the matriarch through generations for inclusivity, is truly the “secret sauce.”

Karen Fryd,

Miami Beach

Trump said that?

Am I the only one who remembers President Trump saying during his campaign that if he was elected, he would end the war in Ukraine on day one of his presidency?

Valeria Mastelli,

Key Biscayne

Cruel stewardship

A young manatee named Kangaroo recently appeared in the waters near Key Largo. Her pectoral fins were grotesquely swollen and entangled in fishing line. We called FWC, but she had swum away and was gone by the time they were available. We hope she returns and gets the urgent care she needs.

Kangaroo’s suffering reflects a larger truth: fishing line, hooks and traps are destroying marine life. This is not conservation — it’s cruelty. Florida must stop calling killing a form of stewardship. Proposals to trophy-hunt black bears — just recently off the endangered species list — show how far we’ve strayed from compassion.

For ethical vegans, true conservation means nonviolence. If we care about nature and the unity of life, then all recreational killing — fishing, hunting, trapping — must end.

To those in power: if your idea of wildlife management involves harm, it’s time to let compassion lead.

Linda Bower,

Miami Springs

Whither North Dade?

Our newly elected Miami-Dade County tax collector, Dariel Fernandez, has opened self-service printable vehicle registration kiosks at four Publix locations. Great idea. However, they are in Miami Beach, Homestead, Doral and Southwest Miami-Dade.

Apparently, Fernandez is not here to serve all county residents’ needs, as all of North Miami-Dade is cut off from this service, which he touts as “Great news!” in mailers with his face on them.

Roberta Lagrandeur,

Miami