Some Denture Cream Lawsuits Reportedly Settled

August 24, 2010, 7:30PM. By Heidi Turner

Seattle, WAGlaxoSmithKline, the maker of Super Poligrip denture adhesive, has settled lawsuits alleging that the denture cream caused zinc poisoning and other serious health problems. What this means for remaining lawsuits against Poligrip and Fixodent denture creams is yet to be seen.

News about the Poligrip settlement comes from a GlaxoSmithKline press release announcing second-quarter results on the company website on 7/21/10. The press release states: "With respect to the Poligrip product liability litigation, the Group has reached agreement in principle to settle the vast majority of cases."

No information is given on how much plaintiffs received in the settlement, nor is it known how many lawsuits were settled or how many are still pending.

Lawsuits were filed against the makers of Fixodent (Procter & Gamble) and Super Poligrip (GlaxoSmithKline), alleging the denture adhesives caused zinc poisoning and resulted in neurological problems in some consumers. The plaintiffs alleged they developed problems such as neuropathy, numbness, pain, tingling, loss of balance and paralysis due to the zinc poisoning.

Warnings about the risk of zinc poisoning have been added to the labels and websites for Super Poligrip and Fixodent. Meanwhile, GlaxoSmithKline announced it would recall all Super Poligrip products that contained zinc and replace them with products that did not contain zinc.

Patients at highest risk of developing zinc poisoning were those who used large doses of the denture adhesives to keep their dentures in place. Those who developed neuropathy and other health problems filed lawsuits after tests showed that some patients had abnormally high levels of zinc.

According to the lawsuits, the makers of the denture creams failed to provide adequate warnings about the risk of zinc poisoning when using denture cream. Zinc is vital to maintaining good health but excess zinc levels can cause copper deficiency, leading to neuropathy and other health problems.

Although manufacturers provided information about how much denture cream to use, many consumers use much more than recommended to keep loose-fitting dentures in place, not realizing that they could be exposing their bodies to high levels of zinc.