• By Hamilton Nolan
    Jun 17, 2009 9:35 AM 4,867
    read more: #warnings, #zicam, #health, #politics, #fda, #consumerism, #drugs, #smell, #goodbyecinnabon

    Cold Medicine May Render You Scents-less

    Have you ever used Zicam Cold Remedy? Did you subsequently lose your sense of smell, for life? If not, consider yourself lucky.

    The FDA has issued a "consumer alert" that says: Hey, if you use this stuff, you just might lose your sense of smell, for good. Maybe they could have told us this during, I don't know, the Bush administration?

    In 2006, [Zicam manufacturer] Matrixx paid $12 million to settle 340 lawsuits from Zicam users who claimed that the product destroyed their sense of smell, a condition known as anosmia. Hundreds more such suits have since been filed.

    The company is vowing to fight the FDA, probably because their stock took a 70% hit on the warning. But better safe than sorry. If you have a cold, don't stick anything in your nose except IV injections of Novocaine.

    [Sorry for the headline. It's early.]


    Send an email to Hamilton Nolan, the author of this post, at Hamilton@gawker.com.