The ramp-up to cold and flu season is a bad time for consumers to learn that some of their most trusted go-to products don’t actually work.
An advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded unanimously in September 2023 that phenylephrine – an active ingredient found in popular over-the-counter cough and cold products such as Sudafed PE, Theraflu and NyQuil Severe Cold and Flu – works no better than a placebo when taken orally. The 2023 FDA advisory panel met to review growing evidence that oral phenylephrine is an ineffective treatment for nasal congestion. The committee did not review the effectiveness of phenylephrine nasal spray.
