APPLETON, Wis. — The FDA is proposing to end the use of cold medications with the active ingredient oral phenylephrine, a nasal decongestant.
What You Need To Know
- The FDA proposed ending the use of oral phenylephrine as an over-the-counter (OTC) nasal decongestant after extensive review
- The FDA held a Nonprescription Drug Advisory Committee meeting and discussed new data on the effectiveness of orally administered phenylephrine and unanimously concluded that current scientific data does not support that the recommended dosage in the OTC cold, cough, allergy, bronchodilator and antiasthmatic drug products monograph for orally administered phenylephrine’s effectiveness as a nasal decongestant
- Tyler Van Schyndel, a pharmacist and the clinical coordinator for Thedacare said phenylephrine is a medicine that works by constricting blood vessels and is used in hospitals intravenously to increase blood pressure, but it’s also an ingredient in several other over-the-counter medicines as a nasal decongestant
- The FDA has concluded that phenylephrine is ineffective orally in cold medicines. It is effective intranasally in nasal sprays, Van Schyndel said, because it’s directly applied to the area of concern
Nic Smith is a pharmacist and the owner of Smith Pharmacy in Appleton.
He said he’s removed oral cold medications from his shelves containing phenylephrine…