NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tennessee is one of the worst allergy states in the nation, with thousands of people battling the common cold each year.
Medications such as Sudafed or DayQuil can help relieve symptoms.
But the FDA now says the active ingredients in some common versions of these drugs don’t work.
The drug in question is found in cold and allergy medications, the FDA said. Phenylephrine is a nasal decongestant.
The FDA says the drug is not dangerous, but also says it is ineffective in pill form because the active ingredient doesn’t reach the nasal passages in enough of the drug, something pharmacist Dr. Sean Pruitt has heard anecdotally for years. It confirms that.
“I tend to listen to patients, and they tell me that drugs like Sudafed don’t make them feel better,” said Dr. Sean Pruitt of Pruitt Pharmacy in Nashville.
The decongestant in question became even more popular in the 2000s after a surge in people using the older drug pseudoephedrine as an ingredient in stimulants.
Pharmacists now expect pseudoephedrine sales to pick up, but sales are limited on a per capita basis and tracked in statewide records.
The FDA will need to decide whether medicines containing phenylephrine should be removed from store shelves.
