This adhesive has high levels of zinc. Your body’s been absorbing it – too much of it – which is what I think has been causing your lack of balance, muscle weakness and your numbness…Zinc toxicity causes low levels of copper. I mean, I never would have thought to ask a guy your age about dentures but you can’t use this adhesive anymore. You can keep your teeth. You just need to use better fitting dentures and adhesive cream without zinc.

Watch the full episode here.

A lawsuit was filed against denture adhesive maker GlaxoSmithKline by a Butler County woman who claims that the company’s product left her permanently disabled.

[Her attorney] said harmful levels of zinc in Super Poligrip caused his client, 41-year-old Terri Charpentier, to suffer a copper imbalance.

The copper deficiency forced Charpentier to leave her job and confined her to a wheelchair for a while, according to Peirce.

Read the whole story here.

Terri Charpentier, 41, a mother of two from the Butler area, today sued GlaxoSmithKline in Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, claiming harmful levels of zinc in Glaxo’s Super Poligrip denture cream led to a nerve disorder that forced her to resign her clerical job and left her unable to drive or to walk without a walker or a cane.

Mrs. Charpentier alleges that the zinc level led to a copper deficiency, which in turn led to a neuropathy that for a while forced her to use a wheelchair.

Read the whole story here.

In 2009, a hyper-specialized biomedical journal called NeuroToxicology published a fascinating piece of poison sleuthing (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19732792). The article documented a disturbing series of 11 cases all of whom shared an unusual and crippling constellation of troubles comprised of profound impairment of the nervous system and an inability to produce an adequate number of blood cells. The specific neurological problems included damage to peripheral nerves (called neuropathy) and the nervous system of the spinal column (called myelopathy). Four of the eleven were wheelchair-bound and four others required a walker for assistance. Moreover, these were not cases selected from an elderly, infirmed population: on average they were 46 years-old at symptom onset (the youngest was 31).

The treating physicians solved part of the puzzle early on. They established that a rare but recognized cause of combined cause of nervous system damage and bone marrow damage was at work – copper deficiency. Copper is an essential nutrient metal. We all need to take in certain amount of copper in our diets. Evolution has allowed for this to be tightly regulated in order to protect us from too much copper getting into our bodies. In fact, a failure of this system is manifest in a serious genetic illness of copper overload (Wilson’s disease). In contrast, too little copper is a hard achieve, although sometimes it is seen after gastric surgery or prolonged intravenous nutrition insufficient in copper.

There is one other well appreciated cause of copper deficiency: chronic excess intake of zinc, a practice that interferes with normal copper absorption. This problem is linked to the overuse of zinc-containing dietary supplements. A rare source of exogenous zinc is the pathological ingestion of coins associated with severe psychiatric illness; this has emerged as a particular problem following the substitution of zinc for copper as the major metal constituent of the U.S. penny. Early on for these 11 cases, the treating physicians not only documented the presence copper deficiency, but also showed that there was concomitant excess zinc. Then they hit a roadblock. Each of the patients denied knowingly ingesting heavy amounts of excess zinc; mysteriously, supplementation with copper corrected the blood deficiency yet elevated zinc levels persisted.

Read the entire article here.

Until very recently, the denture adhesive Super Poligrip contained high levels of zinc — enough, scientists say, to cause neurological damage in people who used too much of it. Host Linda Wertheimer talks to New York Times columnist David Leonhardt about why the product remained on the shelves for so long.

Listen here:

Full transcript here.

Doug had been taking a dietary supplement known as Metabolife 356 to lose a bit of weight and boost his energy. Metabolife contained ephedra, which was later banned by the FDA due to its association with heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular injuries. When Tanner and Levi’s mother saw an ad about Metabolife causing strokes and heart attacks, she called the number. The case was referred to Blizzard, McCarthy & Nabers, who filed a wrongful death suit against Metabolife on behalf of Tanner, Levi and Doug’s parents. The case eventually settled prior to trial.

Although nothing can bring back Doug Woody, Blizzard, McCarthy & Nabers wanted Tanner and Levi to be compensated for their father’s premature death. Tanner is now a junior in high school, and enjoys playing soccer for his school’s JV team. He plans to attend Texas A&M University to become an engineer. Levi is now 15 years old. He is a freshman in high school. He plays the baritone saxophone in the high school band, and also plays soccer. He wants to go to Texas A&M and become a veterinarian. Tanner and Levi miss their dad very much, but they are doing well and have a bright future ahead of them.

A debilitating medical condition is taking a devastating bite out of the lives of many denture wearers.

The condition is a type of nerve damage called neuropathy–a tingling and weakness in the arms and legs. It may also develop into complete loss of sensation and make walking or standing nearly impossible.

Recent medical studies have linked zinc found in common over-the-counter denture creams to this devastating condition.

Read the whole story here.

GlaxoSmithKline sold dangerous denture cream for over 14 years, while there were plenty of studies to suggest the link between excessive zinc and copper deficiency. To alert consumers, it seems GlaxoSmithKline inserted a piece of paper into the product’s box containing statements that slightly resembled warnings. The headline on the insert read, “For Best Results Start With a Small Amount.”

It is unacceptable that GlaxoSmithKline neglected to recognize consumer safety as a top priority for over 14 years. Corporations must be held accountable when they place profits above the well-being of Americans.

Read the whole post here.