Silver Health Scams Spread Online

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Rosemary Jacobs' skin turned gray when she was a teenager and has stayed that way for five decades.

She suffers from a rare skin condition called argyria, which she contracted after taking nose drops containing silver salts to treat nasal congestion in the 1950s.

Once widely prescribed, silver-based remedies went out of vogue after modern antibiotics such as penicillin became available. But the silver elixirs left a permanent mark on many people who took them: skin stained in colors ranging from light blue to cadaverous black as the metal accumulated in their epidermis.

Despite modern medicine and a ruling by the Food and Drug Administration that such remedies are ineffective, companies selling silver remedies have resurfaced online in recent years, hawking their products as a cure-all for everything from cancer to herpes.

"Silver solutions are one of the most widely marketed health scams on the Internet," said Rich Cleland, the assistant director for the Federal Trade Commission's Division of Advertising Practices, which monitors false health claims.

Although it is perfectly legal for silver sellers to advertise their products as "health supplements," they cross the line if they make specific medicinal claims about their merchandise, he said.

Investigators from the FDA and FTC periodically surf the Net to search for bogus health claims and send websites letters warning of potential prosecution if they don't tone down their assertions. But for every site the government shuts down, another pops up.

"There are more of them than there are of us," said Cleland.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2003

Answers

Meanwhile, doctors across the country have seen a surge in argyria cases.

"In the last year and a half, I've seen six cases of silver poisoning from these so-called health supplements," said Bill Robertson, the medical director of the Seattle Poison Center. "They were the first cases I'd seen in 50 years of medical practice."

Outraged at the phenomenon, Jacobs launched her own website to advise consumers of the side effects of silver remedies.

"They pulled silver out of the garbage pail of discarded medical practices and are making money off it on the Internet," said Jacobs, now a 60-year-old retired teacher who lives in Vermont.

She said a couple dozen people have contacted her since her site went live in 1996, saying they suffer from argyria after buying silver supplements online or in health-food stores. Typical reactions to a skin color change range from feeling stupid for buying into the hype to becoming reclusive, she said.

Jacobs says being gray-skinned made it difficult for her to find a job, housing and dates when she was young. Never mind being constantly gawked at in public.

Silver proponents shrug off criticism, charging that Jacobs overdosed and that the FDA is in cahoots with the pharmaceutical industry.

"For the FDA to be out there lying like that is unforgivable," said Jay Newman, president of Invision International, which sells Silver 100. "We have an overwhelming abundance of testimonials from customers, including doctors and nurses who say it kills pathogens far better than any other medication."

While doctors still use a topical astringent called silver sulfadiazine to treat burns, oral silver solutions are no longer used, said Bruce Bouts, an Ohio internist who examined Jacobs and two other patients with silver poisoning.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2003


"As a practicing physician in this century, there is no reason to prescribe silver preparations when we have modern antibiotics," said Bruce.

Perhaps the best-known silver proponent is Stan Jones, the Montana libertarian who launched an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate last fall.

Fearing a Y2K antibiotic shortage, the 63-year-old business consultant made his own silver concoction using a "silver generator" consisting of 9-volt batteries, silver wire and water. He turned blue after taking the concoction for four and a half years, he said.

The tabloid press dubbed him the "Incredible Blue Man" in deference to the sideshow freak of the same name, who contracted argyria after taking silver nitrate to treat a syphilis infection.

Jones says the concoction cleared up a fungal infection and reduced the number of colds and flus he contracted during the four and a half years he took it. His only mistake, he says, was that he drank too much of it.

"It's my fault that I overdosed, but I still believe it's the best antibiotic in the world," Jones said. "If there were a biological attack on America or if I came down with any type of disease, I'd immediately take it again. Being alive is more important than turning purple."

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2003


Sorry I have to agree with the "nutcases"... I have not made my own yet, just waiting for the silver rods.

but someone (Tabby Katt) sent me a quart and I will say I have used a few drops under my tongue 3 times over the holidays when I felt a sickies coming on....and I put some on a cotton ball and rubbed a kittie with a skin problem... and I think it is one of those things, that is a good thing, (in the right dosages) so therefore we must BELIEVE it to be a hoax.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2003


"As a practicing physician in this century, there is no reason to prescribe silver preparations when we have modern antibiotics," said Bruce.

Guess he isn't aware of the unnecessary dispensing of antibiotics which is causing them to become ineffective when needed thus requiring stronger and/or different ones to be made and used. And then the cycle repeats...

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2003


My elderly neighbor across the street routinely gets antibiotics from her doctor for colds. I expressed some surprise, saying but a cold isn't bacteria, it's a virus. She said it always gets rid of the cold. I could see there was no point in telling her colds usually go away of their own volition within 3-5 days. I suspect a lot of the old doctors around here do the same--it's easier than trying to educate their older patients. (And, trust me, you can't tell these locals ANYthing!)

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2003


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