Zicam Cold Remedy received a stern warning from the FDA after approximately 130 have lost their sense of smell. In the wake of the FDA warning letter, Matrix Initiatives, Inc. has voluntarily recalled the product.
Zicam Cold Remedy is an over the counter medicine that delivers medicine in nasal swabs. However, the swabs have been linked to nasal nerve damage resulting in the loss of the sense of smell.
Zicam Cold Remedy is considered by the FDA to belong to a small group of remedies knows as homeopathic.
The FDA issued a warning letter to Mattrix, the manufacturer of the zinc-based homeopathic Zicam Cold Remedy, but stopped short of issuing a recall of the product. However, due to the warning letter, the makers of Zicam will now have to submit safety and effectiveness data concerning Zicam to the FDA. Because of the dangers determined to be associated with Zicam, the manufacturer will now have to go through an FDA approval process.
Of course, a logical question to ask at this point is why does the designation “homeopathic” exempt Zicam and other similar products from FDA review and the approval process. As we’re seeing with so-called “natural” diet supplements, they can be as dangerous as defective prescription drugs. There is nothing about a homeopathic product that inherently makes them safe. They should be forced to undergo the same rigorous evaluation as other drug products PRIOR to coming to market.
The global market for homeopathic remedies is around $200 million but it’s growing. This market includes Nutraceutical International Corp. and Natural Health Supply.
On the Matrixx website, the company boasts that “no plaintiff has ever won a court case. . .” involving Zicam. The company has known for years about the potential harm caused by its homeopathic remedy Zicam and the loss of the sense of smell. Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against the company. Yet, it takes an FDA warning letter to have the product removed from the market.