Anti-fluoride group, New Health New Zealand, has cost New Zealanders hundreds of thousands in a legal battle to do what's right. Photo/File
The anti-fluoride brigade will be gnashing their perfect teeth after the Supreme Court ruled a council can add fluoride to the water supply in South Taranaki.
The court has made a majority decision that adding fluoride to drinking water falls under section 11 of the NZ Bill of
Rights Act, which gives people the right to refuse medical treatment, but it has also ruled the council's power to add the fluoride is a "justified limit" on that right.
An anti-fluoride group, New Health New Zealand, has been fighting its way through the court system arguing that not only does everyone have the right to refuse to undergo medical treatment, but that the council was not legally authorised to add fluoride to the water.
The Supreme Court, our highest court, our court of last resort, has disagreed.
It was, as Water New Zealand has noted, a victory for common sense. It's also a victory for the citizens of Patea and Waverley, whose council can now move ahead with a positive health action.
