A panel from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unanimously decided that the ingredient phenylephrine is not effective in relieving cold and flu symptoms.
The compound is found in Benadryl Allergy Plus Congestion, Sudafed PE, and Tylenol Cold and Flu Severe Day & Night.
Phenylephrine is also found in Allegra and Dayquil.
The compound, taken orally, is broken down in the gut, where it enters the bloodstream.
If the FDA pulls its approval of phenylephrine, the drugs will be pulled from shelved.
A patient representative on the FDA panel, Jennifer Schwartzott, said the oral dose “should have been removed from the market a long time ago. Patients require and deserve medications that treat their symptoms safely and effectively and I don’t believe that this medication does that.”
Reporting from The Gateway Pundit:
The Associated Press reported this meeting was prompted by University of Florida researchers who cited recent studies showing that phenylephrine products failed to outperform placebo pills in patients with cold and allergy congestion. Due to this research, they lobbied the FDA to remove the products from store shelves. The news outlet notes that the researchers previously pressed the FDA to remove phenylephrine products back in 2007 but the agency rebuffed them.
