LEMSIP and other popular cold and flu tablets should be pulled from Britain's shelves because they don't work, experts have said. The US Food and Drug Administration yesterday proposed removing oral phenylephrine - widely used in cold and cough syrups - as an active ingredient in over-the-counter drugs for nasal congestion. Phenylephrine is used in a variety of flu and cold medicines, including popular products such as Benadryl, Advil, and Tylenol.
It is also an ingredient in nasal sprays to treat congestion, but the FDA's action is only related to orally administered phenylephrine - not the nasal spray form. A number of experts have called for the oral phenylephrine remedies - including Sudafed, Lemsip and Beechams - to be pulled from Britain's shelves. CEO of Independent Pharmacies Association, Dr Leyla Hannbeck, told MailOnline : "It is time for our regulators to intervene and give their guidance to help all pharmacists make the correctly informed professional decision.
Read more Health "The debate about the effectiveness of phenylephrine as an oral decongestant has been going on for some time and science now seems to prove that it is not effective while there are plenty of other products available for nasal congestion." The oral phenylephrine remedies are the only ones affected by the current discussion. Professor Ron Eccles, who used to run the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University, previously said that phenylephrine was "an ineffective decongestant" when taken orally.
