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• Feb 19, 2007 8:07 pm US/Eastern
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  Common Cold Remedy Could Affect Sense Of Smell

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Common Cold Remedy Could Affect Sense Of Smell

BOSTON (WBZ) ― It's that time of year. It seems just about everyone is sniffling and sneezing. Many of us depend on over-the-counter cold remedies to help make our cold symptoms more bearable. But you may want to think carefully before deciding which one to choose.

Quint Bridenstein says he didn't think much about it when he used Zicam nasal gel for his cold last year. But now he thinks about it every day. He thinks about it when he's cooking dinner. He thinks about it when he walks into a flower shop and he thinks about it when he pours a cup of coffee. He thinks about the fact that he can't smell any of them. Quint believes Zicam is to blame. I felt a tingling, burning sensation in my sinuses. Immediately, I noticed there was something wrong with my smell, he said.

Quint is not an isolated case. The maker of Zicam paid $12 million to settle a lawsuit filed by hundreds of people with similar complaints. But the company insists the product is safe. In a written statement the company said: "Matrixx continues to believe that Zicam cold remedy intranasal gel does not cause loss of smell and that claims to the contrary are scientifically unfounded and misleading."

Dr. Eric Holbrook is a leading ear, nose and throat specialist at the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary. He says he's seen several patients like Quint. If somebody comes to me complaining of a loss of sense of smell, I always ask if they've used the product, he said. Dr. Holbrook says the problem could be related to zinc, one of the ingredients in Zicam. We know that zinc can cause damage to the olfactory or smell nerves, he said.

Zicam is a homeopathic remedy, so it's not required to go through the rigorous FDA approval process. That means there are no government studies to prove this one way or the other. Dr. Holbrook says it may not be worth taking the chance. Although the risk may be very low, it can be very devastating to the patient, he said.

Quint Bridenstein is one of those patients. You don't realize how many things you take for granted when you can't smell, flowers, coffee in the morning.

Quint hopes his sense of smell will return. His doctors say it's a long shot.

(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)