Zicam Update: What is Your Sense of Smell Worth?

For two years, Florida attorney Frederick Schaffer has sought the answer to his lack of smell. He’s gone to doctor after doctor, searching for a solution and cause to the medical condition known as anosmia. He had a camera rammed down his nasal passage, as well as an MRI and a CT scan. He’s visited specialists. But he finally realized the problem when he saw the FDA’s recall of Zicam.

Schaffer’s claims really highlight what tort victims understand, but the general public often overlooks. Seemingly insignificant injuries often have a lifelong cost. Schaffer misses the smell of coffee (which most people use to help wake up). He misses his wife’s perfume. He misses the smell of his kids’ hair after they’ve taken baths.

The smell is also intricately enmeshed in our sense of taste. Imagine not being able to really taste homemade apple pie, much less smell it. Losing that one sense dulls the taste buds. And, if it can’t be corrected, that’s a lifelong condition. How much is that worth?