Summary

The FDA has proposed removing oral phenylephrine, a common ingredient in over-the-counter cold medicines like NyQuil and Sudafed, due to evidence that it is ineffective as a nasal decongestant.

The proposal follows a unanimous vote by FDA advisers last year, and recent studies showing less than 1% of the drug is absorbed into the bloodstream when taken orally.

The public comment period ends on May 7, after which the FDA may finalize the ban.

  • @Mercuri
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    13 days ago

    Good. Now do something about homeopathy. I’m so sick of having to explain to people that homeopathy is not medicine in any shape or form. It’s not even a home remedy. And it sits right next to actual medicine so people might accidentally buy it unwittingly.

    • @[email protected]
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      1412 days ago

      This was so infuriating during covid as it was hard to find children’s cold medicine already and half the time you’d see a couple bottles of “Children’s cold and flu” on the shelf, buy it, and get home before you notice “homeopathic” written in 3pt font along the bottom of the bottle. Shit’s completely useless.

      • @Mercuri
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        812 days ago

        I’ve gotten into the habit of checking active ingredients after almost accidentally buying something homeopathic that was immediately adjacent the thing I actually meant to grab.

    • ✺roguetrick✺
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      612 days ago

      The problem is, unlike homeopathy, this drug was ineffective for what it was approved for while actually causing side effects. At least the water doesn’t do anything.

    • @[email protected]
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      612 days ago

      I’m sure the Trump Administration will get right on banning homeopathy, or even just labelling it properly. lol

      • @Mercuri
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        312 days ago

        Most certainly! They surely won’t completely dismantle the FDA and then allow big-pharma to dictate everything. /s

    • @[email protected]
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      412 days ago

      Right? You can’t even get ear drops that work anymore because all of the ones they stock over the counter are homeopathic where I live.

    • The Octonaut
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      313 days ago

      Right, but what can they do, short of banning small bottles of water?

      • @Mercuri
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        212 days ago

        Tell me you didn’t read the article without telling me you didn’t read the article.

        Seriously dude, you just had to read the first sentence. They only banned one particular ingredient.

        • @[email protected]
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          12 days ago

          That is included in most over the counter decongestants as the active ingredient.

          Please tell me this is not the first you have heard of the switch to combat meth production to a worse then placibo replacement?

          • @Mercuri
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            12 days ago

            Dude, what are you even talking about?

            I said it was good they banned the ineffective ingredient so now they should do something about banning homeopathy. You said, “Ummm they did? That is what this banned, an advertised effective treatment that does nothing” but they did NOT ban homeopathy, just that one specific ingredient which had nothing to do with homeopathy. Now you’re talking as if the first comment you said was something completely different.

            So please, tell me what argument you’re actually trying to make.

            • @[email protected]
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              112 days ago

              It was a dig at things like nyquill being homeopathy, since they both are treatments that don’t work being sold as if they do.