• About InventHelp
• Invention Services
• Invention Resources
• Marketers & Manufacturers
• Media Outlets
• Contact Us

Health Inventions Gone Wrong

It's hard enough to build a better mousetrap, let alone cure the common cold. We at InventHelp® have watched with interest recently as Zicam, the zinc-based homeopathic cold remedy, fights to stay on the market after reports of adverse health effects. Zicam, of course, is not the first health invention that's come under scrutiny. This month, InventHelp shares the story of some memorable and controversial health inventions.

Finding a creative solution for a health problem can be complicated. Getting a health product onto the market requires years of testing, even for homeopathic remedies. And even once a product hits store shelves, it can be pulled right off at the first sign of trouble.

The Zicam story hits home because during Pittsburgh's brutally cold winter, plenty of us at InventHelp have used Zicam to shorten the length of a cold. Plus, we keep it around for those cruel summer colds. Zicam even made an appearance in one our winter newsletters on Inventions for Winter Sniffles.

Matrixx, the manufacturer of Zicam cold medicines, recently received a letter from the FDA instructing them to stop selling their intranasal products because consumers reported that the products caused them to lose their sense of smell. On a message on their website, Zicam states that it is conducting a voluntary withdrawal of its nasal gel and nasal swabs and offers customers full refunds for products they have purchased. For more details, visit Zicam.com.

If curing the common cold is the most popular health invention goal, then weight loss is an extremely close second. There are more weight-loss products on the market today than we at InventHelp could list in our Newsletter, each one promising to shrink belly fat and get us into bathing-suit shape in no time. And really, who wants to diet or exercise when we could just take a magic pill?

One of these "magic pill" inventions will go down in history as one of the largest health inventions failures in recent memory. Fen-Phen, an anti-obesity drug containing fenfluramine and phentermine, arrived in the 1990s and exploded in popularity after heavy marketing. By 1996, cases of pulmonary hypertension were noted in users of Fen-Phen. That same year, a 30-year-old woman developed heart problems after only a month of use and died in February 1997. The Boston Herald devoted a front-page story to the tragedy, and by September 1997 the FDA requested Fen-Phen's withdrawal from the market.

Still, modern society has it easy compared with our ancestors, who were subject to some of the worst health inventions of all time. Long ago, parasites were ingested to promote weight loss! And then there are the downright dangerous fitness inventions, like The Relax-A-Cizer.

What exactly was The Relax-A-Cizer, you ask? A gadget that, via its "contact pads," electrically shocked the body into perfect shape. Debuting in the 1940s, more than 400,000 Relax-A-Cizers were sold before they were banned for aggravating such preexisting medical conditions as hernias, ulcers, and epilepsy. That sure seems like a high price to pay to be thin. Wouldn't it be much easier to just eat less and take a walk around the block?

We at InventHelp believe that health inventions generally have good intentions, but sometimes the execution can go awry. It's important to keep in mind that where your health is concerned, a little common sense goes a long way. If you have a cold, drink tea, rest and eat some chicken soup. If you need to lose weight, exercise and experiment with lighter menu items. Remember, heath inventions are meant to complement good habits, not replace them!

Back to June 2009 Newsletter