Denture wearers sue after overusing adhesives

MIAMI — When he began getting weak, Ronald Beaver, 61, figured he might just be feeling his age. Eventually his problem was traced to a serious blood disorder caused by low levels of copper.

"I didn't know what to think," Beaver said of his illness three years ago. "I was just scared to death."

It wasn't until several weeks later — after the moving-company employee from Tamarac, Fla., started getting daily doses of copper — that Beaver's doctor mentioned that getting too much zinc can trigger loss of copper. The only source of that much zinc they surmised was the tubes of PoliGrip denture cream he had been grossly overusing for a decade.

"The dentures I had then didn't fit that good. They would get loose and I would reapply," he said.

Now Beaver, who said he never fully recovered, and hundreds of other people claiming similar problems are suing Procter & Gamble, which makes Fixodent, and GlaxoSmithKline, maker of PoliGrip. At least 25 lawsuits have been consolidated for pretrial hearings before a federal judge in Miami, who will decide if they go to trial.

The companies say denture cream containing zinc is safe when used as directed. And the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates denture adhesives, has never issued any warnings about the products. The amount of zinc in the recommended application of denture cream is similar to the amount found in a 6-ounce hamburger, and the overwhelming majority of users have no problems. The zinc improves adhesive power.

The lawsuits claim the products are defective, that the companies failed to adequately warn people about the potential dangers and that no corrective steps were taken. The lawsuits are seeking medical expenses and unspecified damages.

While acknowledging the problems are rare, Beaver's attorney, Scott Weinstein, says he expects many more lawsuits to be filed.

The legal action followed a 2008 report in the medical journal Neurology about a possible link between denture-cream zinc and nerve damage. Doctors at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas described four patients who all used excessive amounts of denture cream and had various nerve-related disorders.

The researchers said their report did not prove denture cream caused the problems but concluded the issue warranted further study. The human body needs zinc and copper in the proper amounts, and zinc is commonly found in many foods, vitamin supplements and cold lozenges. Too much zinc, though, can purge the body of copper.

A copper deficiency can cause nerve damage, resulting in symptoms such as weakness and numbness in arms and legs; difficulty walking and loss of balance; and cognitive or memory impairment, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Jane Flinn, director of the undergraduate Neuroscience Program at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., noted that all four patients in the report used excessive amounts of denture cream.

In the four Texas cases — and that of Beaver and other lawsuit plaintiffs — patients were using far more than the recommended amount of denture cream, perhaps two or three tubes a week.

Procter & Gamble and GlaxoSmithKline said their denture creams are safe when used properly. On their Web sites, both have sections devoted to the issue of zinc in their denture creams. This summer, GlaxoSmithKline began including leaflets with PoliGrip about the reports of possible problems from overuse and is adding similar wording to new packages.