FDA panel: Most common oral decongestant in the US does not work

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration medical advisory panel ruled that phenylephrine, the most common oral decongestant in the United States, does not work as designed.

The panel found that over-the-counter cold medications that use phenylephrine as a key ingredient "failed to provide any benefit over [a] placebo."

In 2022, an estimated 242 million packages of OTC cough and allergy oral products containing PE sold in retail stores, generating some $1.8 billion in sales.

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