The main ingredient used in many popular over-the-counter cold and allergy medications doesn't actually work to get rid of nasal congestion, an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration declared Tuesday.
The FDA typically follows the advice of its advisory committees but it is not required to do so.
Pulling phenylephrine from the market could also affect retail pharmacy chains, which rake in revenue from selling over-the-counter cold and allergy pills.
Retail stores in the U.S. sold 242 million bottles of drugs containing phenylephrine last year, up 30% from 2021, according to data compiled by FDA staff.
Yet FDA staff, in briefing documents posted ahead of the meeting this week, concluded that oral formulations of phenylephrine don't work at standard or even higher doses.
Persons:
Johnson, Scott Melville
Organizations:
Food and Drug Administration, FDA, Procter, Gamble, Consumer Healthcare Products Association, CVS, Walgreens, University of Florida
Locations:
U.S