Oklahoma Injury Lawyer Blog

In a letter to denture cream manufactures, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) recently acknowledged the risk of zinc poisoning associated with denture cream usage.  The FDA states:

There are literature and research that suggest that zinc contained in some denture adhesives may be a contributing factor in these adverse events. Although zinc is an essential nutrient, overexposure may result in zinc toxicity. We are notifying all manufacturers of denture adhesives and asking for their assistance in dealing with this public health issue.

The manufacturers were asked to take steps to mitigate the risk of zinc poisoning with their products.  Here's the Denture Cream Notice and Recommend Action Letter. 

I posted two blog posts last year detailing issues with denture cream and the zinc contained in some of the products:

Denture Cream Causing Neurological Problems? (June 9, 2009)

If you use a denture cream, make sure it doesn't contain zinc. (June 25, 2009)

KOCO recently did a story titled Special Report: Denture Cream Dangers (click the link to view their video story).

The gentleman profiled in the news story woke up one day with his legs numb. He had been making his living as a handyman; now he's confined to a wheelchair.

What caused the nerve damage?

His denture cream. It contained large amounts of zinc, which in turn, causes low copper levels in the body. The big problem is that the damage is likely permanent.

The troubling part:

Oncologist Dr. Vikas Bhushan said a few years ago, a patient came to him for a pre-leukemia condition but his tests didn't show pre-leukemia. Bhushan told his assistant: "'This is some kind of poisoning' is the word I used or a toxin that's causing all this."

His tests showed one big thing.

"We found his zinc levels super high and his copper levels were undetectable," Bhushan.

Exactly the same thing that Carl Halligan says is wrong with him. Bhushan said the patient was using denture cream, so he got on the phone with the maker of the product.

"The initial response was 'This is a trade secret. We can't let it out,'" Bhushan said.

A trade secret? But Dr. Bhushan had a patient with possibly irreversible nerve damage.

"I said, 'Look, I have a patient here who's having severe problems because of zinc toxicity. Just tell me if this has zinc in it. There was a silence, and he said, 'Yes, there is a lot of zinc solid in it,'" Bhushan said.

Wait, what?!? The manufacturers knew that this was a problem, but failed to warn anyone.

We recently launched an Oklahoma denture cream/zinc poisoning lawsuit micro-site.

Excessive zinc can cause terrible side effects, specifically neuropathy (nerve damage). We've included sections on:

• Information About Zinc Poisoning
• Zinc Poisoning Symptoms
• What To Do If You Think You Have Zinc Poisoning
  

Some of the most popular denture creams on the market, including Super Poligrip and Fixodent, have been linked to copper depletion in the bloodstream, which in turn may lead to serious medical problems such as nerve damage. Why? Some denture creams contain zinc, and an excess of zinc in one's diet can lead to a depletion of copper in the blood. In fact, according to the medical journal Neurology, using denture creams over a long period of time could result in nerve damage and neurological problems. Symptoms of nerve damage include numbness, tingling, difficulty moving one's arms and legs, and lack of balance.

GlaxoSmithKline, maker of Super Poligrip, has voluntarily ceased production of denture creams containing zinc. Fixodent however, manufactured by Procter & Gamble, is still on the market.

If you believe that you or someone you love has suffered neurological damage as a result of prolonged use of denture creams, please contact us as soon as possible for an initial consultation.

Last week the Wall Street Journal Law Blog ran a story titled "Plaintiff's Lawyers, Here's Your New Asbestos: Denture Cream!"  The article (with a touch of sarcasm), looks at the potential for the next "category of potentially huge personal injury lawsuits."  Considering that denture cream is used by about a third of the 34 million Americans currently wearing dentures, the number of potential lawsuits is huge.

The problem with the denture creams is that the products contain zinc.  Excessive zinc intake can be harmful.

Denture cream lawyers are arguing that the zinc in the products, such as Poligrip and Fixodent, is causing neurological damage.  One of the main theories of liability is that the manufacturers have known for years that excessive zinc is harmful yet added zinc to the products anyway. 

The ABC News story mentions a 2008 study published in the Journal of Neurology.  It theorizes that long-term denture cream overuse was the culprit in the cases of four patients who had unexplained limb weakness and poor balance.