Dr. Leslie Hendeles began prodding the Food and Drug Administration to reject a decongestant in cold medicines when he had a mop of curly red hair and Bill Clinton had just become president.
By the time opposition to the drug had coalesced, Dr. Hendeles was appearing, at age 80, as an expert to testify before the agency’s advisers, his hair white and his overview of the ingredient spanning 50 years.
His advocacy culminated in the advisory panel’s unanimous vote on Tuesday, when it concluded that the decongestant, a common ingredient in cold and flu remedies, is ineffective.
Prompted by the news, consumers threw open their medicine cabinets upon learning that the decongestant, phenylephrine, was listed in more than 250 of their go-to drugs for congestion like some versions of DayQuil, Sudafed, Tylenol and Theraflu.
And the decision has caused some confusion — experts say the ingredient still works in nasal sprays, just not when taken orally in pill or liquid form.
Persons:
Leslie Hendeles, Bill Clinton, Hendeles
Organizations:
and Drug Administration