Nice to know we've collectively wasted BILLIONS on this stuff: An advisory panel for the FDA announced yesterday that the most popular decongestant in America doesn't WORK.
It's called phenylephrine. It's in a ton of cold medicines, including DayQuil . . . Mucinex . . . Vicks Sinex Nasal Spray . . . Tylenol Cold & Flu . . . Benadryl Allergy Plus . . . certain types of Robitussin . . . and Sudafed P.E.
All 16 committee members agreed it's not dangerous, but there's no real proof it helps when you're stuffed up. So they think it should be pulled from shelves. Quote, "We should not have products on the market that are not effective."
The FDA said they'll consider it. If they agree, drug companies must remove it from decongestants and reformulate their products.
It first got approved in the 1970s. But drug companies weren't using it a lot until 2005 when a different decongestant got restricted, thanks to METH.
That one is pseudoephedrine. It's in the better type of Sudafed that DOES work. It's harder to get now because people kept stealing it to make meth.
The one the FDA panel, ruled on yesterday has NEVER been proven to work. Back in 2007, a different panel only said it MIGHT be effective. But patients and doctors have said for years that it doesn't seem to do much.
The various cold medicines it's in generated almost $1.8 BILLION in sales last year alone.
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