The rash of recent Zicam lawsuits over the loss of smell and taste have alerted many consumers to a 2006 settlement between the manufacturer, Matrixx Initiatives, and those injured by Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel and Gel Swabs for $12 million. It's basically the same issue all over again – leaving many to wonder why the product wasn't changed and why consumers weren't warned.

Business as usual after 2006 settlement

We asked Doug Kreis, a Florida Zicam attorney whether any changes were made to Zicam products after the 2006 settlement or was it essentially business as usual? He told us that not only was it the latter, but that the former could not have occurred. He explained:

It was essentially business as usual. They did not make the type of change that you would need to make to ensure that somebody’s olfactory receptors wouldn’t be killed by this acute toxicity. I think the problems that Matrixx faces here are that the product is inherently dangerous, that it has an inherent defect and that it could not have been remedied by simply a minor change in the product.

Clearly the zinc that's in the products plays a critical role in the smell function. There aren't any issues when used in regular concentrations, but the amount of zinc in Matrixx's products is very high – and that's a huge problem. The efficacy of Zicam required these high concentrations, so it’s a vicious circle. You can't have the efficacy of the product without this ingredient, but the ingredient causes death of epithelial cells. So I don’t know what action they could have taken but for taking the product off the market.

Manufacturer took no responsibility

Kreis says that Matrixx did not admit any liability in the 2006 settlement. He told us, “It was just a settlement. As part of that settlement, they required a stipulated statement in which they admitted no liability. Other than compensating victims, they have made no public statements by which they’ve taken any ownership of the harm that they’ve caused consumers.”