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FDA says common decongestant doesn't work

NPR

Published September 13, 2023 at 7:45 AM CDT

Sudafed and other common nasal decongestants containing pseudoephedrine are on display behind the counter at Hospital Discount Pharmacy in Edmond, Okla., Jan. 11, 2005. On Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023 advisers to the Food and Drug Administration said that a different ingredient, phenylephrine, is ineffective at relieving nasal congestion. Drugmakers reformulated their products with phenylephrine after a 2006 law required pseudoephedrine-containing medications be sold from the behind pharmacy counter. (AP)

An FDA panel just officially decreed that the decongestant phenylephrine found in many over-the-counter cold medications doesn’t work.

We get the latest from professor Leslie Hendeles of the University of Florida, Gainesville.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.