Beck v. City Council of Beverly Hills

Opinion

COMPTON, J.

Plaintiffs who are residents of the City of Beverly Hills by this action seek to enjoin the city council and various city officials from proceeding to fluoridate the municipal water supply.

The case reaches us on an appeal by the plaintiffs from a judgment of dismissal entered following the sustaining of a demurrer without leave to amend the second amended complaint.

On July 21, 1970, the Beverly Hills City Council adopted Resolution No. 70-R-4147 authorizing the addition of fluoride to the city’s water supply. The resolution noted that the California State Board of Public Health had adopted the policy of approving controlled fluoridation of community water supplies as a valuable public health measure in reducing the occurrence of dental caries.

Following recitation of the demonstrated effectiveness and safety of fluoridation during the past quarter century in the United States, the council resolved to add fluoride to their water supply by authorizing the water department “. . . to apply to the State Board of Public Health for an amendment to the water permit of the City of Beverly Hills to allow the addition of fluoride to the water supply of the City of Beverly Hills in order to maintain in the City’s water distribution system the optimum fluoride content designated in the amended permit and in the event said permit is so amended, to acquire and construct the necessary facilities . . . .”

[114]

Throughout their unsuccessful attempts to survive a demurrer, plaintiffs have variously alleged that the city council abused its discretion because (1) federal and state government has preempted the field, (2) the city council failed to permit adequate opportunity for the opposition to be heard, (3) the city water supply already contains the optimum effective fluoride dosage, and (4) fluoridation of a public water supply violates the California Pharmacy Law and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Law,

Narrowed to its most concise and basic elements the complaint in essence alleges that the city council’s procedure in adopting the resolution was improper and that fluoride, because it is a poison, may not be introduced into a public water supply without a prescription.