The most popular nasal decongestant on U.S. pharmacy shelves may not be there much longer. The Food and Drug Administration recently announced plans to phase out phenylephrine, the key ingredient some cold and allergy pills.

Summary

The FDA has proposed phasing out oral phenylephrine, a common decongestant in cold medicines like Sudafed PE and DayQuil, after studies showed it is no more effective than a placebo.

The drug, ineffective when swallowed due to breakdown in the stomach, remains usable in nasal sprays.

Alternatives include pseudoephedrine, nasal sprays, and steroid treatments like Flonase.

The regulatory process to remove phenylephrine could take over a year, but experts argue removing ineffective options will help consumers choose better remedies for congestion. Drugmakers are expected to challenge the proposal.

  • @JackcooperEnglish
    36•2 days ago

    Edit: OP is a cool guy

    Hi, I’m a pharmacist

    Can you please edit your post to say a common decongestant in cold medicines such as Sudafed PE? It’s inaccurate to say it’s in Sudafed.

    Sudafed is the brand name for pseudoephedrine and it very much is effective. Phenylephrine is in the Sudafed PE which only exists because you need to use a driver’s license to get Sudafed from the pharmacy in the US.

    • @MicroWaveOPEnglish
      11•2 days ago

      Thanks for the tip. The photos in the article also show PE as well. I’ve updated the summary.