Zicam Lawsuits May be Lumped Together Before Trials

About a dozen personal-injury lawsuits filed against the makers of Zicam Cold Remedy products for causing users to lose their sense of smell may be bundled together as they prepare for, officials said.

A federal court panel could decide later this week to assign the individual lawsuits to Multidistrict Litigation (MDL), which means a single federal court judge would preside over the cases as they prepare for trial. The judge would rule on pre-trial motions and make other procedural rulings. MDL’s may be granted to avoid inconsistent pretrial rulings and for the convenience of the parties, witnesses and the courts.

If the cases cannot be settled or otherwise disposed of at the MDL stage, they could be returned to the courts where they were originally filed for trial or combined with other cases for trial under the MDL judge, according to a report on Aboutlawsuits.com.

Currently, there are at least 10 suits filed against Matrixx Initiatives in nine different court jurisdictions and attorneys around the United States continue to receive and evaluate new claims. One of the plaintiffs, Stefanie Riepe, has asked for all Zicam cases to be assigned to an MDL in the Western District of Missouri. The MDL panel is set to consider the request on Sept. 24.

Zicam Cold Remedy Recall

Three different Zicam Cold Remedy products were recalled in June after the Food and Drug Administration announced it had received more than 130 complaints from consumers who said they lost their senses of smell after using the popular over-the-counter products. Matrixx later admitted that it had not told the FDA about 800 consumer complaints the company had received because the company’s attorneys advised the company that it was not legally obligated to disclose the consumer complaints.

Because the Zicam products are deemed homeopathic remedies and not drugs, they were never subjected to strict FDA review and approvals before they were put in circulation. After the complaints of consumer injuries poured in, the FDA ordered Matrixx to remove the remedies from stores and file for approvals if the company wanted to continue marketing the products.

Zinc Gluconate Eyed as Likely Cause

While the reason why Zicam Cold Remedy products may be causing users to lose their ability to smell, the lawsuits allege the use of zinc gluconate is toxic inside the body and interfering with the sense. Some Zicam victims say they have permanently lost their ability to smell and taste while others say they were able to recover some or all of the sense after they stopped using the products.

The loss of sense of smell can have a devastating effect on a person’s quality of life, robbing them not only of the enjoyment of eating and outdoors activities but also preventing them from detecting smoke from fires, gas leaks, spoiled food, and other potentially deadly threats.

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