Drug Used to Treat COVID-Related Loss of Smell Found Ineffective: Study

Clinical trial results were manipulated by the manufacturer to exaggerate the drug’s effectiveness, especially for off-label use.

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For many COVID-19 survivors, the inability to smell life’s aromas is an unseen affliction that lasts months after recovering from the infection. This hidden impairment robs them of a primal sense, leaving them disconnected.

Hope emerged when doctors prescribed gabapentin to treat COVID-related smell loss. But new research has deflated expectations, finding in a double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial that the medication is ineffective.

Gabapentin Falls Short in 8-Week Trial

The trial ran from January 2022 to February 2023, involving adults with at least three months of smell dysfunction after COVID-19 infection. Those with other causes for smell disorders or inability to take gabapentin were excluded.