Complaints About Popular Cold Medicine
Jeffrey Schaub
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Kay Henley's world is missing something she used to take for granted.
"I noticed I couldn't smell my flowers," she said. "I can't smell brewed coffee."
Vivid scents became just a memory when she suddenly lost her normal ability to smell. It's the result, she claims, of using a popular over-the-counter cold remedy called Zicam.
"It was recommended by someone I worked with," Henley said. "Everyone was getting colds."
Zicam is a nasal spray that promises to shorten the duration of a common cold. It's sold over-the-counter in drug stores and supermarkets across the country. But now, a growing number of users are claiming Zicam also destroyed their ability to smell.
Dr. Terry Davidson has seen the symptoms first hand at U.C. San Diego's Nasal Dysfunction clinic. He believes the patients he's seen inadvertently inhaled the product into their upper nasal passages, where the olfactory receptors are located. That's a serious risk, he says, because of Zicam's active ingredient, a form of Zinc.
"You put Zinc on a receptor, you effectively kill the receptor," Davidson said. "It's like pouring acid on an open wound."
But in a written statement, the manufacturer of Zicam defends its safety, saying "In no clinical trial of intranasal zinc gluconate gel products has there been a single report of lost or diminished olfactory function."
But that claim is now being challenged by several lawsuits. And CBS 5 has learned the Food and Drug administration is also reviewing allegations about Zicam.
Even though Kay Henley has quit using Zican she's been told that her loss of smell could be permanent -- a prospect she believes stinks.
"I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole," she said. "It's not worth the chance of this happening."
» 02-19-2004
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