Kathy Quan 's Blog
Posted by Kathy Quan
There are 35 million Americans who wear dentures. How many of them fit well? And if you lose or gain a little weight, they can stop fitting well. So how do you fix the rubbing and the slipping? Use a lot more denture cream? Did you know that can be dangerous?
The FDA has had a hard time doing its job over that past years because of a political climate that didn't believe in funding their programs. (Without funding, how can you do your job?) So here we are again faced with an issue like peanut butter being recalled for salmonella. How insane is that? The latest news on this is that a sister plant of PCA in Texas was never even inspected at all!
In areas where we think we are protected, we aren't. Something as simple as denture adhesive cream is not required to have the ingredients listed on the label. So how do we know what's in it? Well we trust that the company who produces it might tell us, but they don't have to.
And all those people whose dentures rub and slip and fall out when they eat things like corn on the cob and apples think they can solve the problem by using more and more of the adhesive. Makes sense doesn't it? But how safe is it? Apparently, if you use the normal amount, it's pretty safe, but if you use a lot to fix dentures that don't fit right, you could become sick from it. And how do we know this?
A few weeks ago I was discussing some issues with Eric Chaffin, Esq. one of the partners in a consumer advocacy firm. He enlightened me to the fact that denture cream has been shown to cause neuropathy in a number of patients because of the zinc these adhesives contain. I did some research and have written a new article about the effects of zinc and denture adhesive cream: Neuropathy From Zinc in Denture Creams.
As a nurse, Do No Harm is a motto that is near and dear to my heart. You think something as benign sounding as denture cream would be safe, and if it isn't that the manufacturers would do the right thing and let the public in on it. Apparently that isn't happening. And they don't have to. So consumer advocate attorneys are filing lawsuits to force them to take some responsibility for their product and not telling the public about these issues.
If you have dentures and they don't fit right, see your dentist, please. Don't try to fix the problem with more adhesive and subject yourself to health issues.
Posted by Kathy Quan
Pain management is an important aspect of nursing. We learn how to use comfort measures to help ease pain and how and when to administer medications to control the pain at an acceptable level for the patient. We strive to teach patients how to use these tools to control their own pain. But when something goes wrong, it can ruin the whole process for many.
Last year my family experienced the tragic death of a young man who grew up with my son. They both loved baseball more than most things in life and they played the game from Little League through college. A car accident brought significant pain issues to this bright, active, terrific contributor to society and he became addicted. Apparently he wasn’t given appropriate professional help to deal effectively with the pain and how to safely use the medications. Consequently, one day he accidentally overdosed.
His was not an isolated incident. Pain management is not an easy concept to teach, much less to understand, but health care professionals must take care to prescribe and utilize pain control tools safely. Effective pain management is a team effort and manufacturers have the responsibility to ensure that physicians, nurses, and therapists who use and prescribe these tools are informed of potential safety risks and issues.
I recently spoke with Eric Chaffin, Esq., a partner at Bernstein Liebhard LLP, about the general subject matter of several of his cases involving consumer injuries. One of the issues that hit home with me was the risk of PAGCL from pain pumps which deliver anesthetic medication to surgical sites.
Chaffin and his firm represent injured patients in shoulder pain pump lawsuits which allege that the manufacturers have not informed health professionals about the risks that these pumps present. Without this information, patients obviously cannot be informed of potential risks, and the quality of care is being compromised.
From my standpoint as a health care professional, this is a huge issue. Patients as well as health care professionals need to be informed of this potential risk. Read more about PAGCL and the Risks of Shoulder Pain Pump Therapy.
Another important point that Chaffin raised during our interview is that,“the likely first significant cut off date for statutes of limitations are coming up in July of this year [2009]” and those who have experienced PAGCL should move quickly if they wish to seek restitution.
