June 23 at 11:59AM
Limbaugh, Colbert and Goldblum Stand Up for Zicam
No minority in this country is more oppressed than the pharmaceutical juggernauts. In fact, last I checked, there are only like three of them left, so they really ought to be on the endangered species list. Luckily, a select few are willing to advocate for this downtrodden lot. Namely Rush Limbaugh, Stephen Colbert and Jeff Goldblum, who were incidentally my first choices for the Three Stooges movies.
More after the jump.
The Colbert Report airs Monday through Thursday at 11:30pm / 10:30c.
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Stuff has worked about 95% of the time over the last 7 or so years. I think the big name products that DO NOT work, set this up. Think about the Zicam word of mouth market share. Sure they have ads, but no where near the big boy products.
What a bunch of losers, acting like there is an issue. Morons get a job!
Zicam is NOT safe! I lost my sense of smell after using it once. MY Doctor knew the cause. The first thing my Ear Nose and Throat Specialist asks people complaining about lost or altered sense of smell is if they used the product Zicam. Ask ANY ENT, Zicam is way,way too risky to be on the market. Just because it cost the company less to settle the lawsuits then the profits they were making does not mean it should be sold.
If this was really a homeopathic product it would certainly be harmless, because it would have no detectable (or, at most, only sub-pharmaceutical) amounts of zinc, or anything, except water (with a sort of magical "memory" induced upon the molecules). It's nonsense, to be charitable. I don't think Zicam would technically qualify to use the term "homeopathic", as I understand it. And, folks, Limbaugh is just getting wackier by the day.
"Zicam is the bullseye in the FDA's target site: a small, humble company that sponsors Rush Limbough [sic], #1 SKU in cough/cold products…"
"FDA could make a big splash and be heros [sic] by setting up and crushing a bad old pharma company."
"…check out there [sic] website where you can view all of it -"
Despite your awful English skills, I agree that Zicam is likely safe, but there are also NO data (in any peer-reviewed journal) that it has any effect on colds. In fact there are NO data to demonstrate that homeopathic theory is anything but quackery.
First off, Huge Colbert Report fan.
However, wish they would have taken the Zicam story in a different, more appropriate direction. THey should dig a little deeper 'cause this story is novel-bound.
Zicam is the bullseye in the FDA's target site: a small, humble company that sponsors Rush Limbough, #1 SKU in cough/cold products, a homeopathic remedy that some find is questionable medicine, and some consumer complaints on file (ok – only 130 unvalidated over 10 years). FDA could make a big splash and be heros by setting up and crushing a bad old pharma company. People would all say "Look how much the FDA changed. They're here for the consumer now!"
The bottom line here is that there's no proven link between anosmia and Zicam. There have been several independent studies validating the safety of the product though (check out there website where you can view all of it – they don't hide it). In fact, there's so much evidence supporting the safety of Zicam intranasal products that' when lawyers recruited clientsin the past to sue Zicam, they failed. They failed 10 times with 10 different judges. Now the lawyers are trying again.
If you think about it, there are under 1000 consumer complaints about these products in 10 years. If you assumed the sales the company would need to make $100MM net sales in a year, there's less than a 1% incidence rate of a consumer complaint! Pretty small. And you can't confuse a consumer complaint with an actual product problem. There are probably more lawyers trying to make a buck then claimants!
Zicam's Zinc Gluconate concentrate is so diluted that it's not like consumers are putting a pure metal compound in their nose. Plus, the Zicam product is supposed to be applied no deeper than 1/4th inch into the nose. That's a far way away from the olfactory system!
Homeopathy isn't quakery – at least not in this case. Zicam has clinical studies that prove it can shorten the duration of the common cold. And it does for me. I haven't had a full blown cold since I started taking the stuff 5 years ago.
this is hilarious Chewbacca Out
Snort up some fun and crap at
http://www.FilthyRichmond.com
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