New York – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said consumers need to stop using certain Zicam cold and allergy products because they can cause permanent loss of smell.
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Zicam is sold over-the-counter, primarily as a cold and allergy remedy. The products are sold in various forms including internasal products meant to be used in the nose. The FDA said consumers should stop using the internasal zinc-containing products.
The action doesn’t affect other Zicam products, such as tablets, “rapid melts” and liquid forms.
FDA officials said they’ve received more than 130 reports about the loss of smell. The agency sent Matrixx a warning letter directing the company to stop marketing the internasal products.
Thank you vos is neias for posting this vital information. I have this medicine at home, I will throw it out immediately.
What is the source of this story? It doesn’t sound plausible. Especially with that misspelled heading! The FDA web site has nothing about any such advice or letter.
By Jennifer Corbett Dooren
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
its actually alot of BS…this is a homeopathic product. The amount of zinc used is dilluted to the equivalent of ONE drop into an OLYMPIC SWIMMING POOL
Whether homeopathics work or not is another question…but FOR SURE this has nothing to do with the product
The people who use this product are individuals with certainissues and by nature a number of them will lose their sense of smell.
This is another FDA powergrab based on complaints from pharma companies losing market share
This is nothing new, actually this came out months ago about their nasal spray. I actually like their oral spray- it’s the only thing that helps me get over a cold faster and not be so sick. The gov. should start doing more research into zinc products -maybe it will work against the flu including swine!
Thanks for posting. I plan on continuing its use! I think this is a bunch of trash!
Lets see whar rush says about this.
My mother is suffering from loss of smell and she was on Zicam. When she went to an ENT he told her to stop taking it immediately – don’t take it!
Rush Limbaugh should stop advertising it.
Zicam…
He FDA said they received more than 130 reports of anosmia—the loss of sense of smell—associated with use of above three Zicam products. Many people who experienced a loss of sense of smell say that the condition occurred with the …
Exclusive Video here:zicam-story
Rabosai,
Use a saline solution instead. It is pennies for a lifetime supply and the rafuah is from HKBH alone. Yotair Tov !!!
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)–The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said consumers need to stop using certain Zicam cold and allergy products because they can cause permanent loss of smell.
Shares of Matrixx Initiatives Inc. (MTXX), maker of Zicam, dropped 56% to $8.56 in recent action after hitting a 52-week low of $8.41 earlier in the day.
Zicam is sold over-the-counter, primarily as a cold and allergy remedy. The products are sold in various forms including internasal products meant to be used in the nose. The FDA said consumers should stop using the internasal zinc-containing products.
The action doesn’t affect other Zicam products, such as tablets, “rapid melts” and liquid forms.
FDA officials said they’ve received more than 130 reports about the loss of smell. The agency sent Matrixx a warning letter directing the company to stop marketing the internasal products.
-By Jennifer Corbett Dooren, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9294; [email protected]
People have reactions from various medications. There are warnings for these things and life continues. About 100 people have been affected of the THOUSANDS who have used the product in the last 10 years so its much ado about not much.
The best solution: exercise outdoors to open nasal passages and take frequent shvitzes in your steamy bathroom. Lots of Vitamin C and a lot of herbal tea.
Common colds/flu are caused by different virus’ leading to upper respiratory tract infections. The same virus that is causing the cold is causing the loss of smell. More likely this loss of smell is due to irritation and inflammation of that that cranial nerve.
The concentration of zinc gluconate used in the Zicam spray is “2X”, which is a term used in homeopathy to mean that the original substance was diluted 100 times. Now, we don’t know what the original concentration of zinc gluconate was that they started out with, but diluting it only 100 times could certainly have a pharmacological effect, either good or bad. Note that this is a much stronger dilution than that typically used in homeopathy, which is usually on the order of a billion-fold or even astronomically higher. Of course, at such rediculously-high dilutions, no effect, good or bad, can be achieved. Naturally, the psychological and placebo effects are great, particularly in gullible individuals. Note that in the last 3 editions of Rabbi Blumenkrantz’s Pesach Guide, he discusses the absurd nature of homeopathy, and even likens it to avodah zarah because it involves the belief in something that has no scientific validity (in earlier editions of his book he seemed to be in favor of it, possibly without realizing the baseless nature of the remedy).