Listers:
This woman's e-mail address is at the bottom of the article. I sent her a
message yesterday, and informed her that the mayor she quoted was 100 percent
correct, and all the debunkers either didn't know what they were talking about
or had ulterior motives (i.e., corporate greed) behind their words. Why don't
you tell her too? The more we spread the word, the better.
----- Original Message -----
From: Black
To: silver-list@eskimo.com
Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2001 8:53 AM
Subject: Re: CS>I'm from the IRS. I'm Here to Help...I'm from the FDA/FTC.
I'mHere to Inform
Roger,
I saw this article too (I live near Orlando) and I was so mad I could have
chewed Silver Dollars!! The saddest part is that most sheeple will believe it.
Nancy...
----- Original Message -----
From: rogalt...@aol.com
To: silver-list@eskimo.com
Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2001 4:35 PM
Subject: CS>I'm from the IRS. I'm Here to Help...I'm from the FDA/FTC. I'm
Here to Inform
Howey Pushes Silver as Anthrax 'Remedy'
By Stephanie Erickson
Sentinel Staff Writer
October 19, 2001
HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS -- The magical elixir is supposed to cure all sorts of
ailments: gonorrhea, leukemia, sleepwalking, AIDS, arthritis, athlete's foot --
even anthrax.
And now, thanks to Howey-in-the-Hills Mayor Greg Bittner and the Town
Council, colloidal silver is the officially endorsed "simple solution" for
anthrax or any other malady that might strike the 950 residents of the quiet
Lake County village.
Bittner, definitely not taking his cue from medical science, told a council
meeting last week: "This is the greatest medicinal item that has ever come
along. It wipes out virtually every virus."
Wishful thinking.
Federal health officials in 1999 prohibited the marketing of colloidal
silver as a remedy for any disease because it turns human skin blue and gray --
permanently. And they say the fluid -- actually, tiny particles of silver
suspended in distilled water -- doesn't cure a thing.
Officials at the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade
Commission were horrified to learn that any government would promote what they
consider a scam.
Said FDA spokeswoman Laura Bradbard, "That's absolutely amazing." Added
senior attorney Rich Cleland of the FTC: "There is no scientific evidence that
suggests it will be effective against any bacteria."
And Dr. Stephen Barrett, vice president of the National Council Against
Health Fraud and head of a Web site called Quackwatch.com, all but laughed out
loud when told of Bittner's endorsement.
"Is he going to be re-elected as buffoon of the year?" Barrett said.
But the 67-year-old mayor, who researched colloidal silver on the Internet,
where it's described as "nature's most powerful antibiotic," predicted it could
"sweep the country."
Bittner brought colloidal silver to the attention of the Town Council on
Oct. 8, just as an anthrax case in South Florida was beginning to generate talk
of bioterrorism. Just in case, Bittner said, the town should spend $100 to buy
a colloidal-silver "generator" that produces a gallon of the stuff for about a
nickel. That way, he said, residents will have enough for their families, and
"you can take care of your neighbors, too."
Council member Joanna Gaskill was the only one to question whether there is
any medical proof that the silver solution works.
"I just don't want a Howey medicine show," she said.
Regardless, the latest edition of Council Talk, the town newsletter that
arrived in mailboxes this week, told residents of the "simple solution" to
fight anthrax and provided police Chief Curtis Robbins' number as a contact for
more information. The chief has said a friend of his with cancer was helped by
the stuff.
Colloidal silver actually is nothing new.
Silver was, indeed, used through the 1930s as a preservative, especially in
milk, and it was routinely added to nose drops for allergies through the 1950s.
That's when doctors began to notice that people using silver for a long
period were turning ashen-gray or blue, a condition called argyria. So
manufacturers stopped using silver in the mixtures.
As diseases became more resistant to antibiotics, however, some
alternative-medicine advocates began encouraging use of colloidal silver and
selling generators to make it. The devices use silver rods as electrodes, which
are inserted into a container of water. When the electrodes are hooked to
batteries or an electrical transformer, electrolysis causes tiny particles of
silver to become suspended in the fluid. The amount of time the generator runs
determines the strength of the silver in the mixture.
By the mid-1990s, the FDA had begun warning colloidal-silver marketers to
stop selling it as a medicine; last year, at least 18 Web-based marketers got
such warnings.
Also last year, as part of "Operation Cure.All," the FTC charged a Central
Florida company, Palm Bay-based Aaron Co., with fraudulent marketing of the
stuff on the Internet. Without admitting it violated any law, the company paid
fines and refunded money to customers.
Still, sales of colloidal silver are rising.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, business is up 10 percent, said Yvonne Hengst,
who sells it from Delaware via her Web site. Indeed, since the terrorist acts,
she herself has been drinking a half-ounce a day of the elixir.
"This is something that people really need and use, especially now with the
anthrax scare," Hengst said. "You're crazy not to."
What does the FDA say?
Colloidal silver can't be considered safe.
Stephanie Erickson can be reached at serick...@orlandosentinel.com or
352-742-5921.
Copyright (c) 2001, Orlando Sentinel
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