Health Services

Bad Taste,Bad Medicine?

When it comes to the popular cold remedy Cold-Eeze, Dartmouth turns a cold shoulder.In 1990 the zinc-based protoype of the new cold medication was tested on 87 Dartmouth students. When the product hit the market a fewyears later, the packaging cited a Dartmouth College study as proof the stuff worked. Dr. John Turco, director of health services, objected to the unauthorized use of Dartmouth's name, insisting that a single trial was not conclusive enough to warrant the College's endorsement.

Quigley Corp., the Pennsylvania-based manufacturer of the lozenges, promptly removed Dartmouth's name from the ColdEeze label. But the Cold-Eeze Web site ( www.quigleyco.com) still cites the Dartmouth study. The news isn't about to make a Cold-Eeze fan out of Turco, who has notified the College's lawyers. He insists the zinc treats only symptoms and doesn't kill viruses. "And you have to take, like, eight a day," he says. And one more thing: "They taste horrible."