- Pharmacy chain CVS announced this week that it would stop selling many popular nasal decongestants.
- Last month, an FDA panel said the drug’s active ingredient, phenylephrine, was ineffective.
- This ingredient is found in medications such as Sudafed PE, Allegra, and DayQuil.
CVS announced this week that it would remove many popular nasal decongestants from its shelves after Food and Drug Administration advisers said the active ingredients were completely ineffective.
In September, an FDA advisory committee found that when phenylephrine is taken orally, nothing more than a placebo Even though it has been on the market for over half a century. This ingredient is found in many popular over-the-counter medications, including Sudafed PE, which accounts for $1.8 billion in sales each year.
“Even when properly conducted, the most recent studies do not show that phenylephrine improves congestion,” Mark Dickewitz, an allergist at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, said in a statement.
CVS will continue to sell some medicines containing phenylephrine, but Daquil and Allegra contain phenylephrine along with other active ingredients. public relations person told the Wall Street Journal This means removing all items that contain it as the only active ingredient. Although the FDA has not asked pharmacies to remove the drug, it is moving toward eventually removing phenylephrine from the list of approved drugs, the magazine noted.
How can an ineffective drug continue to be sold for over 50 years? Leslie Hendeles, a consultant to the FDA, said: told Time magazine That’s because federal regulators have traditionally tested over-the-counter drugs only to see if they’re safe, not if they’re effective.
“I don’t remember a drug being removed from the market because it was ineffective,” he said.
So far, no other drug chain has followed CVS. Representatives for Walgreens and Rite Aid told news outlets that they will follow any further guidance from the FDA.
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