According to FDA panel experts who reviewed the latest research on the long-questioned phenylephrine, a drug ingredient used in several leading decongestants used by millions of Americans looking for relief from a stuffy nose, is likely no better than a dummy pill.
"We believe that these new clinical pharmacology and clinical data are consistent, substantial, and believable, and they confirm that orally administered [phenylephrine] is not effective at any dose that can be developed and still provide a reasonable margin of safety," the agency's reviewers wrote in their report.
Advisers to the FDA voted unanimously against the effectiveness of the phenylephrine found ...