A panel of experts advising the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) unanimously agreed that the ingredient, phenylephrine, is ineffective as a decongestant. At the meeting on Sept. 12, they reviewed data and raised concerns regarding the effectiveness of this common over-the-counter decongestant ingredient.
With the arrival of a new flu season, the purchase of decongestants and cold medicine is increasing. Phenylephrine is a common ingredient in cold medicines such as Sudafed PE, Benadryl Allergy D Plus Sinus, and Vicks DayQuil Cold and Flu Relief.
The FDA originally approved the use of phenylephrine in 1976, and it went through a different process than what’s required for newer drugs that come on the market, allowing it to get into over-the-counter medicine much quicker.
“Typically it takes 20 years from discovery to product for every drug that comes out of the pharmaceutical industry, this is why drugs are so expensive. So when things are fast-tracked, the time it takes from discovery to product is shortened,” Dr. Caroline Gochoco-Tsuyuki, a Riordan chemistry teacher, commented.
“That’s where the questions became apparent that that part of the study, the most important part, had been left out of the evaluation process,” she added.
Phenylephrine eventually became the leading ingredient in decongestant medicines because its competitor pseudoephedrine ’s sales were restricted from being placed behind pharmacy counters.
Currently, medicines containing pseudoephedrine does not need a prescription to get but customers are only allowed a certain number of tablets and are required to be above 18 years old with identification.
In the early 2000s, pseudoephedrine was widely used at the time but was moved behind the counter because it could be illegally processed into methamphetamine and legislation was passed to combat methamphetamine use.
Although phenylephrine has been determined to be ineffective, experts do not advise throwing out all decongestant medicines that contain this ingredient because it is not dangerous and other ingredients will work to ease nasal congestion.
Because phenylephrine decongestants may not show improvements to sickness after one dose, consumers should not take additional doses in a short period. Higher doses of other ingredients present can potentially be dangerous in excessive amounts, experts warn.
Chloe Hui ’25 who was recently out sick with Covid shared, “It’s good that we know now that it’s ineffective, but hopefully, there will be more careful research in the future to eliminate any ineffective or harmful ingredients to medicine we use.”
Instead of using cold medicine that contains this ingredient, experts recommend taking medicine that contains pseudoephedrine like Sudafed, or nasal sprays as they are taken directly at the source which will be more effective in easing congestion.
