Did you know you can get mercury poisoning from eating too much sushi? Jeremy Piven now does.
Dr. Carlon Colker, a doctor who has been treating the SAG award nominee and Emmy award-winner, tells ET, “Jeremy is disappointed that members of the production staff of ‘Speed-the-Plow’ and other members of the entertainment community have not rallied behind him during this health crisis.”
Colker says, “Jeremy is suffering from extreme mercury toxicity. A major symptom of mercury poisoning is extreme fatigue. In addition, Jeremy began experiencing neuro-muscular dysfunction late last week, which led to extreme difficulty in lifting his arms and legs. Then, this past Sunday, he began feeling dizzy.” Now on enforced rest, Jeremy spent three days in the hospital recently. Colker tells ET exclusively that he is no longer in New York.
“Jeremy has been an avid sushi eater for many years, regularly eating sushi twice in one day. He has also taken certain Chinese herbs, and that, in combination with the frequent sushi consumption, could have led to these elevated mercury levels,” Colker explains. He goes on to inform ET that a test revealed that Jeremy had the highest level of mercury that he has ever seen, which amounts to six times a healthy amount of mercury, in his system.
ET via In Case You Didn’t Know
I guess David Memet, who made the joke about Jeremy leaving to ‘pursue a career as a thermometer’, is feeling a little red-faced right now.
One question that this doesn’t answer is, why aren’t his Broadway coworkers convinced he is indeed unwell with mercury poisoning. What is it about his recent behavior that makes them suspect of this doctor’s diagnosis?
What are the Chinese herbs that Piven has been taking? You can take them for just about anything, like most holistic medicines if you have a complaint someone has a natural alternative for you to try. I believe that for some people they make a big difference, and for others it seems to do nothing. You have to be careful with any kind of unregulated medication as they can have additional harmful ingredients, as Piven found out the hard way.
Note by Celebitchy: Mercury poisoning is very serious and although Piven can be a douche I think it’s unfair for people to doubt his diagnosis or make fun of him. He has a doctor vouching for him who sounds both sincere and incredibly concerned for his health. Mercury can cause madness and extreme illness. The “Mad Hatter” character is based on mercury poisoning suffered by hatters in Victorian Britain, who used mercury in the process of making hats. Many of them got very sick and became mentally ill.
Jeremy Piven is shown on 12/8/08 at a screening of The Wrestler. Credit: WENN
Strange. The Japanese never had a problem with all that raw seafood.
For some reason I can´t dislike this guy, I think its because he reminds me of someone!
So I hope theres a treatment to it and he will get well soon!
No matter how much of an idiot someone is, no matter how sarcastic you are…you never, EVER, make a joke out of someone´s health condition! Is just plain wrong!
vex – there is enough cases of mecury poising in Japan, FYI.
Yes, good point, Vex. Must be the sushi/chinese herbs combo that’s done it. Either way, he’s obviously not flavour of the month with his co-workers – that they’re unsympathetic and cynical speaks volumes.
This is an example of what can happen when one tries to self-medicate with unregulated supplements. People seem to think that the words “natural” “herbal” and “chinese” are magical and that nothing bad can happen from taking them.
In reality, these supplements are not regulated by the FDA. This means, literally, that you can buy a bottle of a supplement, take it to a lab and have it tested, and find it has only trace amounts (or none at all) of what it purports to be. You can then buy another bottle, same brand, take it to be tested, and find out it has 500x what it claims to have. Quite frankly, if you are buying supplements, you just don’t know what you are getting.
I totally understand people wanting to be proactive and wanting to do that something extra to help improve their health. Truth is, though, at best those supplements do nothing at all, and at worst they can cause real harm (case in point). And this isn’t even touching on the potential interactions with any prescription medicines one might be on…that’s a whole different-but important-can of worms.
If one really wants to look out for their health, it’s better to maintain a generally healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet that meets all nutritional needs without resorting to supplements.
The simple truth is, nobody knows what is in that bottle of supplements in your medicine cabinet. The smart person will avoid those supplements at all cost and maintain their health through good diet and exercise.
Doesn’t he take some sort of herbal cocktail to regrow his hair?
I have no idea who this person is, or why he is famous. However, I suspect a lot of things coming from China are adulterated with substances toxic to humans.Baby formula, anybody? Mercury poisoning is a very serious and dangerous illness.
I hope everyone has a good day!
Larissa – Yes, its obvious that it exists there but you don’t see the Japanese landing themselves in hospital all the time especially after you consider the amount of raw food they eat. Which is a lot.
I hope he gets better. I like his work.
I think people doubting his illness has more to do with him being a douchebag, and less to do with his actual health. If it had been Julie Andrews that had to quit, everyone would be tripping over themselves to wish her well. Piven…not so much.
i take chinese medicine, which is dispensed by a doctor who went to medical school at shanghai university for acupuncture and chinese herbology and is licensed to practice in PA. just because the FDA doesnt regulate them doesnt mean they are unsafe. chinese medicine has been around for 5,000 years, compared to western medicine’s relatively short life. the FDA is not a completely objective infallable organization either, by the way, as lawsuits with vioxx, chantix, and countless other lawsuits prove. nor is the FDA above being swayed by special intrest and political pressure, as the fight to get birth control over the counter as well as Plab B both failed due to interference from right to life christian findamentalist groups and political pressure.
as long as the herbs are manufactured from reputable chinese pharamceutical companies, many of which are multinational, it doesnt mean automatic contamination or safety risk. I wish alternative medicine could gain more mainstream traction in this country, including going through more clinical trials and regulation for safety, so that people would have increased access to cheaper, preventative, curative modes of health care, because our current health care system is even more dangerous to people’s health that unregulated herbs, IMO.
also im guessing piven was eating at least some tuna sushi on his twice a day sushi regimen. tuna has very high levels of mercury compared to other types of fish (which variably make up the japanese diet and so there is more diversity of fish-its not tuna every single day) because the tuna is at the top of the fish food chain and eats other fish that have some mercury, and that fish eats other fish that contain mercury, and so on. its a compound effect with tuna. anyone who wants to read a good article about safety and contaminants in chinese herbs should read this: http://www.itmonline.org/arts/cleanhrb.htm
I don’t doubt that he has high mercury levels, but his doctor is another famewhore —
http://gawker.com/5113688/meet-mercury%2Bpoisoned-jeremy-pivens-fishy-celebrity-doctor
His background is shady. Anyone can make a diagnosis, but what is the doctor’s training and specialty? This guy is a sports medicine and wellness specialist. The show’s backers want
Piven examined by another doctor.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12182008/news/regionalnews/speeding_away_144766.htm
Piven emailed the producers that he wouldn’t be back; pretty lame considering how much they’ve invested in the show ($3.5 million). Plus for someone who’s seriously ill Piven is partying up a storm.
“At yesterday’s matinee, more than 300 ticketholders demanded a refund when they heard Piven was a no-show.
The box office has already handed out roughly $20,000 worth of refunds because of his absence.” (New York Post)
What an asshat!
umm….what kind of doctor talks publicly about a patient’s test results? what happened to confidentiality? dr.douchebag.
Mercury aside, he probably has worms too. No wonder he looks so grey. I read that it takes a temperature of 10 degrees F for 5 days to kill worms in large fish like tuna.
I like sushi but eat it very sparingly. I knew someone who had a $500 a week sushi habit – no joke. She’s very hard to pin down now.
Spike is right CB. You guys are so politically correct.
OMG – worms! Baholicious – I’m never eating sushi again. Seriously. It’ll be raw veggies wrapped in rice and seaweed and dipped in soy sauce for me. It’ll probably save me a lot of money, too. BTW, whatever happened to the spirit haunting your apartment? I asked you on another thread but I am not sure you read it. I have a tendency to get behind and post stuff on old threads (from like 5 days ago) and nobody responds because they’ve already moved on. Or perhaps I should take a hint. LOL
Actually, Baholicious, I could have done without that little statistic too!!
The “doctor” should have checked Piven’s alcohol and cocaine levels before blaming it on the sushi.This makes the twinkie defense look legit.
I’m sure Mr. Piven will make a “miraculous recovery” once he weasles out of his contract.
I have to disagree with barnslur. As someone who has taken supplements for years, I have never had a problem. Chinese medicine is something that I don’t know enough about and would not be taking anything without sufficient knowledge. I can’t believe even Piven is enough of an idiot to take Chinese medication without a consultation from an expert. And his physician said “may” have led to the Mercury poisoning, not did.
Many supplements are standardized to a certain percentage of supplement. And it makes sense to go with a company that has a longterm good reputation.
The next time you want to blanket supplements as unsafe, I suggest you do a bit of reading on Vioxx and other pharmaceuticals that have side effects which were hidden from the public. Sometimes getting a scrip from your physician isn’t any better. And, trust me, I review medical records as a major part of my job.
The Chinese Herb to regrow hair is called “Fo-Ti” or “He Shou Wu” and Piven may have been taking it, but I doubt this caused the poisoning. Eastern Medication/Supplicants are very good for their anti-aging properties. Where would we be without CoQ10? The fact is, before taking any new suppliment, one should do their own research. This goes for medications perscribed by your doctor. Always read up on a drug’s potential side effects and harmful interactions with other drugs, suppliments and alcohol. Don’t forget what happened to Heath Ledger. Also, about parasites and Sushi. Yes. Raw fish does contain parasites, but eating raw papaya seeds and doing a Master Cleanse every six-months to a year will reduce the amount of parasites in your intestinal track. Basically, suppliments can be helpful, you just really have to know what you are taking. Be your own advocate…and tuna is very high in mercury.
I think I meant “Supplements”…maybe I need to lay off of the Chinese Herbs!
So what herb does he take to make him such a douche-nozzle?
i always knew memet was a genius, but that thermometer joke was hilarious
$500 a week sushi habit? Wow. Although, if I had that kind of money to throw around, I’d also be spending a lot of it on sushi. Worms and all.
Has anyone noticed that in less than one month he left the show which required him to work 8 performances a week, he has been seen getting on a plane to go to Thailand, ‘got back just in time to hit the Golden Globe pre-parties -and- was seen drinking champagne at the Globes itself. Hmmmm… I think the dude decided he wanted to cut out of cold NYC and have a vacation and fun before he went back to hanging with his boys on set of Entourage in Feb. ‘Didn’t even have the sense to stay away from the cameras. I think his ego is allowing him to believe all of the hype that was being thrown his way. Too bad, he really is acting like Ari now. Yuk. I hope Mamet and crew sue him. I think he bailed cuz he did not like working so hard and that he wanted a vay-kay!
Jeremy Piven is not a douche and this is tragic. I hope he is ok and is cured. Is he going to live? I can not believe this is happening to him.
Jeremy is one of my favorite acters on Entourage. Dianna is right this is a very serious thing i hope he is ok.
I don’t know who this actor is or what he is like but I do know what it’s like to suffer from mercury poisoning. I have been ill for over a year with it. Mine came from a visit to the dentist office. I had a couple of those silver’AMALGAM” fillings drilled out by a regular dentist and have been extremely sick ever since! I have been in and out of hospitals all year and have seen several specailists. No one whants to talk about this mercury subject in the mainstream medical world!!!! What this guy needs to do is go for CHELATION THERAPY with a doctor who knows what to do. It takes a very long time to get this substance out of the body and can cause a lot of damage in the brain and organs. Google mercury /dental/ heavy metal poison….etc.
I wouldn’t wish this this illness on my worst enemy!!! It has taken my life away for over a year! It is impossible to function and people think your nuts because it doesn’t show up on regular tests. You have to have a urine DMSA challenge test to show it in the body. There are thousands of people who suffer from this but you don’t hear about them unless you are sick and looking up information on it yourself. Those of you who are ill out there and can’t find answers to your health problems should read up on dental amalgam and the dangers of it being in your mouth or having it drilled out unsafely. I pray for this guy and hope he gets help soon. As for everyone else out there……you need to do some research on the toxins we are all being exposed to by mankind that is effecting our health. Watch the video on youtube called “TOXIC TEETH”….It shows how those so called “silver fillings” RELEASE DANGEROUS VAPORS IN YOUR MOUTH!!!!!! Find a holisic doctor who knows what the medical profession is hiding from the world because they make too much money keeping people sick. They laugh when you talk about toxic stuff but it is no joke and does exsist in our world. We are all exposed to it some how in every day life!
Jeremy Piven is not a douche and this is tragic. I hope he is ok and is cured. Is he going to live? I can not believe this is happening to him.