Defective Products Archive
Zicam Recall puts new light on Possible Treatment for Smell Loss
July 15th, 2009. By AbiK
Zicam users who’ve allegedly found themselves without a sense of smell have to deal with another “loss”: the loss—or lack—of treatment options.
One thing you immediately realize upon reading a July 10th article from HealthDay Reporter on loss of smell and a possible new treatment for it is that restoring the sense of smell is not an easy task—few treatment options exist and those that do exist are not a sure bet.
The article, however, points to a potentially new treatment option found in a drug once used to treat asthma. The drug, theophylline, showed some initial promise in a recent study done by Dr. Robert Henkin, director of the Center for Molecular Nutrition and Sensory Disorders in Washington, D.C.
The study looked at 312 patients who were diagnosed with hyposmia (loss of smell) over a seven-year period. After being treated with theophylline, over 50% of the participants in the study reported improved sense of smell; more than 20% reported their smell had returned to normal. Read the rest of this entry »
Chinese Drywall on the move
July 10th, 2009. By AbiK
Until recently, reported incidents of defective Chinese drywall seemed fairly contained to the southeast—particularly Florida. The Chinese drywall situation may prove to be larger than anyone expected as we watch the “creep” effect on a map of the US, compliments of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The map (above) shows the now 18 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have reported incidents of defective drywall. And, as we blogged recently in Chinese Drywall by the Numbers, incident reports have begun to show up beyond our borders as well…
Herbal Fen-Phen (Ephedra) Study on Adverse Effects
July 9th, 2009. By AbiK
There’s an interesting study on Ephedra—aka herbal fen-phen—called “The Relative Safety of Ephedra Compared with Other Herbal Products” by S. Bent, TN Tiedt, MC Odden and MG Shlipak. It was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (3/18/03, volume 138, pp. 468-471).
In the study, the researchers looked at the number of adverse effects reported to US poison control centers during 2001. Keep in mind, the study is now a few years old as Ephedra has been banned since 2004. But the study was conducted during the time in which Ephedra was still riding high in popularity as a diet supplement.
The results of the study showed:
Products containing ephedra accounted for 64% of all reported adverse effects from herbs even though they represented less than 1% of total herbal product sales. The risk for an adverse effect from ephedra compared with other commonly used herbal products was very high. For example, relative risks for adverse effects from ephedra were 100 times greater than from kava and as much as 700 times greater than from Ginkgo biloba. Types and severity of adverse effects were not described. Read the rest of this entry »
Saints’ Coach can run from Chinese Drywall, can you?
July 6th, 2009. By AbiK
Ok, now we’re getting to some of the harsh realities about the toxic Chinese drywall situation. The AP reported back on June 18th that New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton’s home is one of the many affected by defective drywall—and in the meantime, he’s moved out. He’s apparently renting someplace. But see, that takes money, right? And I bet no one’s telling the Payton’s they can just let their mortgage payments (assuming they have them) lapse while they fork over money to rent someplace else. But can the thousands of other homeowners whose lives have been affected by defective Chinese drywall do that? Pretty doubtful.
And Payton clearly understand this: the AP article states Payton “says he feels sorry for residents in Louisiana who have the same problem but can’t afford to make such a move.”
Chances are, given what is now reported on US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)website regarding the potential health effects of the defective drywall, anyone who has any of these symptoms would most likely want to leave home: Read the rest of this entry »
Ill Fitting Dentures Could Cause Big Health Problems
July 1st, 2009. By LucyC
If you are one of the several million denture wearers in North America, and find yourself using more than the standard amount of denture cream adhesive to keep your dentures in place, you may be putting yourself at risk for serious neurological disease.
Cases of Zinc Poisoning from Denture Cream Reported
A recent article in the medical journal Neurology, reported on documented cases of patients who had suffered zinc poisoning, believed to be associated with the use of zinc-containing denture creams. (Note: To date, products linked to the denture cream poisoning include PoliGrip, Super PoliGrip and Fixodent denture adhesive.) Read the rest of this entry »
Find us on
Archive by Category
- Accidents (24)
- Airlines (9)
- Asbestos Mesothelioma (262)
- Automotive (25)
- Celebrity (14)
- Class Action (84)
- Complaints/Comments (15)
- Consumer Fraud (84)
- Contest (2)
- Court of Public Opinion (5)
- Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See (61)
- Criminal Law (4)
- Defective Products (111)
- DePuy ASR Hip Recall (2)
- Discrimination (22)
- Drugs/Medical (248)
- Elder Care Abuse (4)
- Emerging Issues (462)
- Employment (54)
- Environment (52)
- Financial (28)
- Food Illness (15)
- Human/Civil Rights (4)
- Insecurities (5)
- Insurance (16)
- Intellectual Property (16)
- Internet/E-commerce (19)
- lawsuits (161)
- Lawyers (20)
- Lawyers Giving Back (43)
- Lex Levity (10)
- Personal Injury (106)
- Pleading Ignorance (53)
- Real Estate (2)
- Recall (6)
- Scam (3)
- Securities (13)
- Settlement (81)
- Tort Reform (2)
- Totally Tortelicious (81)
- Veterans (11)
- Whistleblower (9)