Poligrip Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Over Toxic Effect of Denture Cream

GlaxoSmithKline faces a wrongful death lawsuit over problems from Poligrip denture cream. The complaint was filed after a Miami man allegedly suffered paralysis and then subsequently died as a result of toxic levels of zinc that entered his body after using Poligrip to secure his dentures.

The Poligrip lawsuit was filed in Miami by the family of Rodney Urbanek, who died in 2008 at age 64. The denture adhesive cream contains high levels of zinc, and GlaxoSmithKline failed to warn consumers about the risk of serious health problems when too much zinc accumulates in the body, according to the complaint.

A number of similar denture cream lawsuits have been filed against GlaxoSmithKline over its Poligrip cream, and against Proctor and Gamble over its Fixodent denture adhesive. Dozens of cases filed in federal courts throughout the United States have been centralized in a multidistrict litigation (MDL) for coordinated pretrial litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

While all of the Fixodent suits and Super Poligrip suits involve similar allegations that the manufacturers failed to warn that high amounts of zinc are contained in the denture adhesive creams, Urbanek’s lawsuit is believed to be the first wrongful death lawsuit brought to bear on one of the companies due to zinc poisoning from denture cream.

Increased levels of zinc in the body can deplete copper levels, causing a condition known as hypocupremia, which is known to increase the risk of significant neurological problems that can leave users with permanent and debilitating physical injuries. Although the recommended daily allowance of zinc is 11 mg for men and 8 mg for women, with 40 mg being the maximum amount of zinc that can be safely tolerated, some denture creams have been found to expose users to levels as high as 330 mg per day.

In October, GlaxoSmithKline added a new Super Poligrip zinc warning to the denture cream, notifying consumers that the product contains zinc and that excessive use of the cream could result in serious health effects. Prior packaging did not even acknowledge that the denture cream contained zinc, let alone discuss denture cream zinc side effects.