In Canada you can find cough & cold medications in both the Phenylephrine and Pseudoephedrine formulation, often under near-identical labels (IIRC one can buy "

In Canada you can find cough & cold medications in both the Phenylephrine and Pseudoephedrine formulation, often under near-identical labels (IIRC one can buy "Tylenol Cough and Cold" with either active ingredient, for example - carefully checking the label is the only way to tell). I didn't realize there was a difference until one day after running out of Phenylephrine-based medication I bought the Pseudoephedrine-based one - it was a night and day difference! Now I tell everybody with a cold to check the labels and buy the good stuff. Interesting case study in being able to sell a low-quality product (one of the most important active ingredients doesn't work!) side-by-side with a much better product and most people won't ever notice that one is better.