16 years later, FDA acknowledges that popular OTC decongestant is totally ineffective

Quote:

Decongestant ingredient in popular products does not work, FDA concludes Advisory panel reviewed studies of phenylephrine, an active ingredient in Benadryl, Mucinex, Sudafed PE and Tylenol A common decongestant ingredient of numerous popular over-the-counter cold and flu remedies does not work, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded on Tuesday. An advisory panel spent two days looking at studies of phenylephrine, an active ingredient in well-known medicines including Benadryl, Mucinex, Sudafed PE and Tylenol, and reported to the FDA that it is no more effective than a placebo. The announcement raises the likelihood of the medicines disappearing from shelves this fall while manufacturers scramble to formulate alternative formulas without it, according to the New York Times, which first reported the development.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-phenylephrine

Science Based Medicine blog covered this earlier in March. While intravenous and other non-oral phenylephrine is effective, not enough of the drug (at current dosages) survives passing through the gut to be therapeutically useful.

https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the...ugs-dont-work/

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/1LGwHKa