It’s the middle of a chilly winter of virus soups, runny noses, red eyes and hacking coughs, with many reaching for cold and flu tablets to ease symptoms. But what some don’t realise is that a common drug used in products to treat blocked noses does not work when taken in tablet, capsule or liquid form. Phenylephrine, a drug found commonly in cold and flu tablets, has been found to have very low efficacy.
Credit: iStock Last September, an advisory committee to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unanimously concluded that phenylephrine – an active ingredient in cold and flu medication – is not effective as a nasal decongestant when taken orally. The FDA must now decide whether tablets and capsules containing phenylephrine should be removed from shelves and manufacturers asked to reformulate products, although it stressed there were no concerns about its safety. Associate Professor Daniel Malone, the pharmacy course director at Monash University, says it has been known for at least 20 years that phenylephrine works no better than a placebo when taken orally.
“I was not surprised at all – the evidence for that has been around for years,” Malone said. Professor Dan Malone says the evidence that phenylephrine doesn’t work any better than a placebo when taken orally has been around for years. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui So why is an ineffective medicine still stocked in pharmacies and supermarkets across Australia? Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administratio.