The Matrixx Class Action; Zicam Sold to Kill Colds, Appears to Kill Sense of Smell

June 23, 2009 - PRLog -- A company called Matrixx Initiatives marketed Zicam products to kill the common cold. Now the Phoenix, Arizona, firm is facing suits by consumers and investors who say Matrixx knowingly sold products that destroy the sense of smell.

The suits, including massive class actions, are piling up.

While the first publicly announced suit is from a Florida man who says he was injured by Zicam, law firms around the nation say they’re “investigating” the company, its products and the claims of injured consumers and of investors who lost millions in Matrixx stock (which trades under the symbol MTXX). The stock plunged from near $20 to below $5 when the story broke in late June.

What typically happens in cases like this is that hundreds of law suits will be filed on behalf of consumers and investors. Many of the lawyers will ask the courts to approve their cases as “class actions”. The lawyers will say that a large number of people were harmed by the company’s actions in the same way, so it makes sense for all the claims to be rolled into one suit, and have a single court decide the case for all. There will likely be one class action for consumers, and one for investors.

In order to attract plaintiffs (people with claims against Matrixx), law firms will issue press releases on the subject and set up web pages like http://MatrixxClassAction.com.  These web sites will offer details about Zicam and the stock, and invite people to contact the law firm to discuss their claims.

The case against Matrixx appears to be strong. The company was sued several years ago by consumers who claimed that Zicam Cold Remedy had damaged or destroyed their ability to smell. Matrixx settled with some 300 plaintiffs, giving them $12 million to drop their suits. That allowed the company to claim this month that Matrixx has never lost an injury suit.

This month the FDA issued an alert, telling the public to stop using three Zicam products: Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel, Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs and Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs, Kids Size. The FDA said it acted after receiving 130 reports from doctors and consumers about permanent loss of smell linked to the medicines, but since then, Matrixx admitted that it had another 800 consumer complaints that it had not turned over to the federal agency. The company says it didn’t think it had to.

The typical injury claim is for a medical condition called anosmia – loss of smell and taste.

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