CVS to discontinue sale of Phenylephrine based nasal decongestants after FDA finds them ineffective

[Brian Lutz]

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/cvs ... s-5800932/
https://apnews.com/article/sudafed-deco ... fe764ecb66

Following the results of a FDA study that has found that Phenylephrine (the main ingredient in most over-the-counter nasal decongestants) is basically ineffective, CVS has announced that they will discontinue the sale of such products. I'm sure most people who have ever used one of these products could have told the FDA that, but it's taken this long for studies to confirm this.

Pseudoephedrine, which is known to be much more effective, is sold behind the pharmacy counter and can only be sold in limited quantities due to it being used as a precursor to methamphetamines, but this is going to leave some empty shelves for a while.

[Alpha8472]

Many customers who buy phenylephrine products bring them back to the store and demand a refund. The store ends up giving a refund and taking a loss.

This will save money in the long run. It will increase sales of real pseudoephedrine and make customers happier. They will actually get something that is worth their money.

Many cough and cold medications do nothing. They make you think you are treating your illness, but most of the time it is a placebo effect. Tylenol is probably the only medication worth your money. It relieves fever and pain.

[storewanderer]

Many customers who buy phenylephrine products bring them back to the store and demand a refund. The store ends up giving a refund and taking a loss.

This will save money in the long run. It will increase sales of real pseudoephedrine and make customers happier. They will actually get something that is worth their money.

Many cough and cold medications do nothing. They make you think you are treating your illness, but most of the time it is a placebo effect. Tylenol is probably the only medication worth your money. It relieves fever and pain.

Cough and cold are tough. You don't really know how to go after them. I think products like Day Quil and Ny Quill are smart because they try to hit the thing a bunch of different ways, plus add in the sleeping medicine or staying awake medicine. It seems even if nothing else in either of those products accomplishes anything for me the part about sleeping/staying awake does work. Probably be better off buying something specific for the sleeping/staying awake purpose given the conclusion I just reached here..

[Brian Lutz]

Many customers who buy phenylephrine products bring them back to the store and demand a refund. The store ends up giving a refund and taking a loss.

This will save money in the long run. It will increase sales of real pseudoephedrine and make customers happier. They will actually get something that is worth their money.

There are currently five states (Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Oregon and Mississippi) that have classified Pseudoephedrine as a controlled substance and require a prescription for it, as well as pressure on other states to do the same. There's a good chance this will just leave some people with no effective cold remedies available.

[jamcool]

We all know that those who make meth are probably getting pseudoephedrine in bulk…they aren’t going to clear the shelves of Sudafed to make their stuff. Put pseudoephedrine back on the shelves and limit its sales to one package per customer (like they did with hand sanitizer during the Covid crap)

[storewanderer]

Many customers who buy phenylephrine products bring them back to the store and demand a refund. The store ends up giving a refund and taking a loss.

This will save money in the long run. It will increase sales of real pseudoephedrine and make customers happier. They will actually get something that is worth their money.

There are currently five states (Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Oregon and Mississippi) that have classified Pseudoephedrine as a controlled substance and require a prescription for it, as well as pressure on other states to do the same. There's a good chance this will just leave some people with no effective cold remedies available.

In OR the pharmacist can issue you the prescription? What about those other states?

[mbz321]

Many customers who buy phenylephrine

Many cough and cold medications do nothing. They make you think you are treating your illness, but most of the time it is a placebo effect. Tylenol is probably the only medication worth your money. It relieves fever and pain.

Not factoring in phenylephrine, It's not so much that they 'do nothing', but most of these OTC cold medicines are just a combination of things you probably already have on hand...like Tylenol/Advil combined with a cough syrup, there's nothing really special about them. NyQuil throws in a sleeping pill ingredient.