The Blue Skin Blues

A while back, I wrote about Paul Karason, also known as the Blue Man (but not a member of the Group), whose skin has turned a permanent shade of blue after years of using the pseudoscientific cure-all known as colloidal silver. Sadly, Karason believed his condition was due to foolishly rubbing colloidal silver on his face to treat a skin condition and refused to admit that taking the stuff at all is not only medically ineffectual but actually harmful to the millions taken in by its fantastical claims. Rosemary Jacobs, on the other hand, knows better. She’s a 66-year-old former Spanish teacher from Vermont whose skin turned blue in her teens after years of taking colloidal silver nasal drops to fight allergies. After a lifetime of abuse, ridicule, and painful skin treatments, Jacobs has started speaking out about the dangers of colloidal silver and similar supplements sold over the Internet and at so-called health stores. While the effects of colloidal silver are pretty difficult to ignore, it’s also important to note that other pseudoscientific supplements such as homeopathic remedies may have no immediately negative side effects but pose an incredible danger to those who take them instead of evidence-based medicine for life threatening conditions. As terrible as Jacobs’ condition is, she and others defrauded by snake oil salesmen are lucky to make it out with their lives. More details here.