Listerine may cause oral cancer. Interesting lawsuit by company that produces

[snagglepuss]

oral cancer detection kit.

snip

A company that makes an oral cancer detection kit has launched a $60m lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson, claiming that the multinational prevented its product from being sold to protect its own Listerine mouthwash, which, along with other mouth rinses, has been linked to mouth cancer.

snip

OCPI alleges that Johnson & Johnson had been worried by a 2008 study in the Australian Dental Journal that concluded that mouthwashes with high alcohol content could cause oral cancer.

According to the allegations, the effect of sidelining the test "is that an estimated 584 cases of otherwise preventable oral cancer in the state of New Jersey and 7,300 such cases throughout the US" would have occurred. Alcohol and smoking have both been linked to the cancer, and symptoms include loss of teeth and bleeding.

"This is a case of concealment," said Mark Rutenberg, chief executive and founder of OCPI. "Johnson & Johnson wanted to conceal that studies had shown there was a problem with Listerine and oral cancer. In the US alone Listerine sales exceed $1bn a year."





http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/27/johnson-johnson-sued-mouthwash-cancer-fears

[xchrom]

1. Damn & I love listerine. Nt

[CelticThunder]

2. Good god

[BuddhaGirl]

3. UGH

Listerine is nasty and contains toxic chemicals :puke:

[personman]

4. I like it too :(

I knew it was harsh, but I thought it was like nuking my mouth bacteria... Ironically, I was right in that it raises cancer risk...

[noamnety]

5. I thought that was general knowledge.

I've known to use alcohol-free mouthwash for years because of the cancer risk.

[applegrove]

6. Any time you wear down part of your body you are at risk of cancer right there.

Your cells have genes in them that have the instructions "one time, copy this cell" and so your worn down body part replaces itself with new cells. After years of this the "one time" falls off and the instructions say "copy this cell". That is cancer. Of course that mouth wash, abrasive to the the skin in your mouth, would be as bad for you as any other vice.

Don't wear down any part of your body.

[supernova]

7. The first time I heard of this

My mother told me in the early 90s. Her brother had been diagnosed and was being treated for oral cancer at the time. At the time he was in his early 60s. Uncle Jack's doctor had told him about the Listerine and Mom relayed this info to me. It had to do with the excessive alcohol content. I was never sure about it because I couldn't find any other corroborating info anywhere. This is only the second time I've heard this in all these years.

I have been a user of Listerine and its store brand clones because that's what the dentist told me to use. I asked a dentist once about this Listerine/cancer topic and he assured me that its benefits for preventing gingivitis were over and above any threasts like oral canc. I have the Target clone in my bathroom now. I've often wondered if the fact that it will peel the first layer of skin out of your mouth is indicative of more sinister properties.

As soon as I finish this bottle, which will be soon, I'm looking for alternatives. Anybody know what is a good alternative w/o the high alcohol content but still germ killing properties?

[snagglepuss]

8. It's the first I've heard of this as well and I like scanning health news.

Dentists have also told me to rinse daily but I've avoided doing so because I've never felt comfortable gargling with something that says do not swallow on the label. Perhaps salt water would be an effective alternative.

[sfpcjock]

9. Very interesting.

I used to used it a lot, then switched to the "milder" version for while, then the expensive one with Fluoride in it.

Now I can't afford it and use NaBicarb + Colgate gum protective toothpaste. The bicarb is almost the perfect dentifrice by itself, IMO. It protects teeth by pushing the pH out of the acid range and it feels a bit like the carborundum found in toothpaste.