Broadway Actor Relinquished His Dream Role Due to Mercury Poisoning
Photo Credit: ABC News, Good Morning America
This morning, Diane Sawyer interviewed Jeremy Pivens, an award winning actor who was forced to leave a Broadway show due to illness. There were several striking things about his story.
Number one, he was found to be suffering from mercury toxicity.
Number two, he has been roundly criticized and mocked by producers of the show, night time talk shows, the playwright, and even lampooned on Saturday Night Live.
Number three, Jeremy is his desire to be healthy, had shunned other forms of protein and fat and consumed only fish for the past 20 years.
What I took away from the interview is that:
Number 1: A diagnoses that doesn’t fit into the paradigm of the medical community is not well received. Number 2: An unconventional illness is considered fair game for ridicule. and Number 3: A balanced and varied diet is better than an extreme diet.
One Comment
My husband had mercury poisoning several years ago. He got it eating fish, mostly sushi (tuna) and sea bass. It was no joke. My normally brillant witty husband had truly become stupid, dull, and incapable of remembering simple things. We had a newborn baby at the time and chalked much of it up to sleep deprivation – I was feeling quite stupid as well! But then the baby started sleeping through the night, I got more sleep and gained IQ points, and my husband was still stupid. I happened to read an article in a magazine that lead me to suggest he get tested. He did, and that’s what his problem was. He is more careful about how often he eats fish now.
One Trackback
[...] new » Would they Mock a Cancer Patient Like This? Thu, 01/15/09 – Hartke Is [...]