Super Poligrip with Zinc to be Discontinued due to Risk of Zinc Poisoning

GlaxoSmithKline PLC will discontinue Super Poligrip with zinc, due to the risk that use of the denture adhesive may cause serious and potentially debilitating problems from zinc poisoning.

Super Poligrip Original, Ultra Fresh and Extra Care denture cream products will be removed from shelves and replaced with zinc-free versions, the British drug company announced on Thursday. The product change comes as the company faces mounting Poligrip lawsuits over health problems allegedly caused by zinc in the denture adhesive products. Excess levels of zinc entering the body from the denture cream could cause users to suffer neurological damage from zinc poisoning.

GlaxoSmithKline says that it is discontinuing the products due to the “health problems associated with the long-tern excessive use of our zinc-containing denture adhesive products.” However, the company said it still believes that the products are safe when used in recommended amounts. GlaxoSmithKline has maintained that users are only in danger when they use more than the recommended amount in order to compensate for ill-fitting dentures.

Eventually, GlaxoSmithKline says there will be zinc-free versions of all of the discontinued denture creams, but did not announce when those products would be available. There is already a Super Poligrip Free on the market, which does not contain zinc. The replacement products will be clearly marked as being zinc-free, the company said.

A number of denture cream lawsuits have been filed against GlaxoSmithKline over its Poligrip cream, and against Proctor and Gamble over its Fixodent denture adhesive. All 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.

Proctor & Gamble officials say they have no plans to discontinue Fixodent, maintaining that it has half the zinc as Super Poligrip and is safe for use. Both companies have faced calls from critics for zinc to be removed from the products, which previously contained no warnings about the risk of zinc poisoning.

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.

Zinc is believed to help with the adhesive properties of the denture creams. However, until recently neither GlaxoSmithKline or Proctor and Gamble had alerted users that zinc was an ingredient in their products.

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.