The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday it would seek public opinion before finalizing its decision to remove a decongestant widely used in cough syrups from the agency's list of ingredients for over-the-counter (OTC) use.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday it would seek public opinion before finalizing its decision to remove a decongestant widely used in cough syrups from the agency’s list of ingredients for over-the-counter (OTC) use.

The FDA’s clarification follows a unanimous vote by its panel of outside experts on Tuesday against the effectiveness of oral OTC medicines made with phenylephrine, an ingredient widely used in cold and cough syrups.

If the FDA concurs with the panel’s view, it will first issue a proposed order removing phenylephrine from the list of ingredients that are allowed in OTC drugs, and seek public comment on it.

After considering the comments, if the FDA continues to conclude phenylephrine is not effective, the agency would issue a final order on it and work with manufacturers to reformulate products to effectively treat symptoms of cold or allergies.

  • @esc27
    9•10 months ago

    I wonder if this will trigger a pseudoephedrine shortage.

      • @just_change_it
        6•10 months ago

        I haven’t had the 1 box per month limit pop up for me, even when my wife and I both get sick.

        Purchase limit in Massachusetts is 9 grams per month and 3.6 grams per day. A single pill is 30mg so you’d need 300 pills to reach that.

        An adult dose is 12 pills per day if you take 2 every 4 hours. You can take a full dose for 25 days a month before hitting that limit.

        • @Nastybutler
          2•10 months ago

          Sounds like @catwhomustnotbenamed is planning a cook

        • @Zak
          2•10 months ago

          Now imagine being one person shopping for a partner and kids when everybody is sick. The restrictions are a real problem for a lot of people.