A federal judge for the Northern District of Georgia dismissed two dental amalgam lawsuits filed against the American Dental Association (ADA), saying the court lacked personal jurisdiction over the ADA.
U.S. District Judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr., dismissed the two complaints in the cases Murphy v. ADA, et al., and Murphy, as Next Friend of Joshua Murphy v. ADA, et al. The complaints initially filed on June 28, 2002, in the State Court of Fulton County (Georgia) and removed to federal court, alleged harm because of mercury exposure from dental amalgams. Judge Pannell entered his dismissal order in Atlanta on February 24.
"We are very pleased with this ruling," said ADA President T. Howard Jones, D.M.D., who maintains a practice in Georgia. "It reinforces our belief in the frivolousness of these lawsuits and that many unsuspecting individuals are being used as tools to promote the causes of others."
Dental amalgam, the silver-colored filling material that dentists have used to restore hundreds of millions of decayed teeth, is made from silver, copper and tin, in addition to mercury, which chemically binds these components into a hard, stable and safe alloy.
Just last week, the ADA announced that a New York State Supreme Court judge had dismissed two dental amalgam lawsuits filed against the ADA, the New York State Dental Society and the Fifth District Dental Society (NY). The judge ruled the complaints failed to show a "cognizable cause of action."
"We hope the courts will continue to put these frivolous lawsuits behind us so that we may go unhindered in devoting our time and efforts to promoting the nation's oral health and working on solutions to help improve access to oral health services," Dr Jones said.
The ADA is the nation's oldest national dental association, representing more than 147,000 members. It advocates for the public's health and promotes the art and science of dentistry.
For more information about dental amalgam and other oral health topics, visit www.ada.org.
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