As at April 2016:

In his Declaratory Judgement in October 2014, in the High Court in Wellington, Judge Collins ruled that HFA and SSF satisfied all the key elements of a medicine:in that they are used for a therapeutic purpose and they achieve their intended action on the human body by a pharmacological means..Judge Hansen had earlier come to the same conclusion when he ruled against New Health New Zealand in March 2014 in New Plymouth..

Despite fluoridation chemicals meeting the usual description of a medicine, Judge Collins ruled they were not medicines since they were added to the public drinking water at a concentration lower than 10mg/L.

The Judge has made a patently obvious error as he has referred to a section in the Act that regulates Prescription, Restricted and Pharmacy only medicines. Not meeting the classification for one of these types of medicines, does not mean a substance is not a medicine, it just means it is a general sale medicine.

Judge Collins then advised the Ministry of Health to apply for an exemption from the Medicines Act for all fluoridation chemicals. Despite 1300 submissions, the Government quickly approved the exemption in February 2015.

New Health New Zealand is appealing this decision and the decision made by Judge Hansen in the High Court in New Plymouth in 2013. This will be heard at the High Court on the 5th and 6th of July 2016.