FDA says many over-the-counter cold medicines basically useless
Think that OTC drug you bought for a few dollars recently will help you with nasal decongestion? Not according to the FDA, which said this week that studies of the ingredient phenylephrine have proven it to be ineffective in battling all those sniffles.The FDA, in uncharacteristic public clarity, claimed that phenylephrine products are small, poorly designed and decades-old in terms of effectiveness for nasal congestion problems. In other words, they can't hold a candle to the ravages of the current nasal clogging that millions of us see each year. Why are these products sold and marketed like they are, then?
There is a reason. After the U.S. Congress enacted a law last year that made major OTC drugmakers Pfizer, Procter & Gamble and more change from the ingredient pseudo-ephedrine stock products containing that ingredient behind pharmacy shelves (as it can be used to manufacture the drug methamphetamine). Phenylephrine was the replacement, but now it's being discovered as basically useless. Nice.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-05-2007 @ 10:49PM
Brian White is borderline illiterate said...
The FDA, in uncharacteristic public clarity, claimed that phenylephrine products are small, poorly designed and decades-old
Brian, what is a "small" drug? What in the world does that mean? The pills are too small?
The source that you paraphrased (and linked) says: "The Food and Drug Administration said studies of phenylephrine, an ingredient recently added to many cold medicines, are small, poorly designed and decades-old."
That makes a lot more sense. The drugs aren't small, poorly-designed, or decades old. The studies of the drugs are.
There's a pretty big difference between the two. To paraphrase a much better source: at no point in your rambling, did you even come close to an intelligent thought. I award you no points, may God have mercy on your soul.
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