Media Should Continue to Treat Jeremy Piven’s Medical Claims With Skepticism

October 9, 2009 Washington - This morning the New York Times published yet another installment in the seemingly never-ending dispute between Jeremy Piven and the producers of the Broadway production of David Mamet's "Speed the Plow." The Times article pits Piven's claims of exhaustion caused by mono and mercury poisoning against evidence of nights out at "Entourage" cocktail parties and Britney Spear's birthday party. It makes for a good soap opera, but in the real world it doesn't amount to much.

Despite the fact that the arbitrator ruled in Piven's favor, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) continues to caution reporters and editors to treat Piven's medical claims with skepticism. To reiterate, no peer reviewed medical journal has ever published any evidence of a case of methylmercury poisoning caused by the normal consumption of commercial seafood in the U.S. Neither the arbitrator's ruling nor the Times latest rehash of the drama that Broadway types care about changes that simple scientific fact.

For NFI's complete archive of statements concerning Piven's claims, click here.  NFI has also published detailed video rebuttals on YouTube to Piven's statements on both Good Morning American and Late Night with David Letterman.