A CASE OF THE BLUES.(physical and psychological effects of argyria, silver poisoning, caused by dietary supplements )

Publication: The New Yorker

Publication Date: 11-NOV-02

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COPYRIGHT 2002 All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of The Condé Nast Publications Inc.

The last time silver was a big issue in an American election was probably in 1896, when William Jennings Bryan was running on a pro-silver-based-currency platform and giving his famous "Cross of Gold" speech. Now silver is back, in Montana politics, though it is not so much in the campaign as in one of the campaigners.

Specifically, silver is in the Libertarian candidate for the United States Senate, Stan Jones, and silver is in him to such an extent that he has turned blue, or blue-gray, depending on how you look at him. His condition is known as argyria, and he developed it three years ago after drinking a homemade colloidal-silver concoction, in preparation for Y2K-related antibiotics shortages. Naturally, pundits have made the most of this, likening him to the Smurfs...

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