Originally Posted by blackshire

Yep--just the fact that it contains mercury ("Heavy metals are dangerous!") was all it took, despite no evidence of it causing harm when used as directed. (The lead paint and asbestos 'hysteriae' are just as pathetic; yes, they can be harmful, but only if ingested or inhaled. If sealed into their applied-to surfaces, they're perfectly safe, but the regulators act as if they're radioactive, being dangerous just by their presence.) Also:

Having lymphedema, I've found mercurochrome (I'm stretching out my last bottle of it) particularly helpful, but when I asked about it at my Wal-Mart's pharmacy last year, just on the off chance that they might have some (maybe available by prescription), they had no idea what mercurochrome even *was*! I felt like Winston Smith in "Nineteen Eighty-Four," where certain facts--which he remembered--had been erased from all magazines and books (Wikipedia is sort of like Oceania's always-changing past issues of "The Times" in that regard... :-) ).