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> cough medicine being gated OTC cough medication is literally everywhere in the US... are you talking about something more specific?

A4ET8a8uTh0 3y ago
This one[1] is more recent and it will affect otc cough syrup in its current form. But I was thinking about the impact removing DXM [2] from cough medicine. edit: The net effect of those being that anything that actually works requires prescription. [1] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-fda-seek-public-opinion-before-deciding-disallowing-popular-cough-syrup-2023-09-14/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-fda-seek-public-opinion-... [2] https://www.webmd.com/parenting/teens-cough-medicine-abuse https://www.webmd.com/parenting/teens-cough-medicine-abuse
- ceejayoz 3y ago
  > This one[1] is more recent and it will affect otc cough syrup in its current form. Functionally, no, it won't. The ingredient doesn't do anything; it's a scam.
- kube-system 3y ago
  Phenylephrine should be banned as an oral decongestant in all cold medicines, prescription and OTC, because it is a scam and doesn't work. It basically serves as a way to sell people OTC decongestants, since the one that actually works (pseudoephedrine) is BTC.
  - dataflow 3y ago
    > Phenylephrine should be banned as an oral decongestant in all cold medicines, prescription and OTC, because it is a scam and doesn't work. How do people keep buying it and using it if it genuinely doesn't do anything for them?
    - kube-system 3y ago
      1. the placebo effect is strong 2. people believe the box and/or ads 3. it comes in combination drugs and people don't actually know what each drug does. many people simply "buy cold medicine" when they have a cold, with no thought to the mechanism of the components. If you're in a place where it is legal you haven't tried it before, next time you have a stuffy nose, give it a try. It doesn't do anything at all, and studies prove it!
      - dataflow 3y ago
        > If you're in a place where it is legal you haven't tried it before, next time you have a stuffy nose, give it a try. It doesn't do anything at all, and studies prove it! The reason I asked is that I've tried the OTC decongestant sprays (which I believe have phenylephrine in them?) some years ago, and they've worked damn well. I don't really believe that the sprays don't work, if that's the claim. But I don't know enough to tell whether the phenylephrine in particular has any effect, and I didn't memorize the ingredient lists of the ones I've bought and tried.
        ceejayoz 3y ago
        > The reason I asked is that I've tried the OTC decongestant sprays (which I believe have phenylephrine in them?) some years ago, and they've worked damn well. They're likely multi-medication sprays. Even if they were purely phenylephrine as an active (lol) ingredient, saline nasal spray (water!) helps with some stuffy noses, especially allergy-driven ones. "A spray with phenylephrine in it worked" and "the phenyleprhine worked" are very different things.
        BobaFloutist 3y ago
        Iirc the research suggests that phenylephrine actually works ok in nasal sprays, it just doesn't work orally.
        dataflow 3y ago
        But if they work without phenylephrine then why do companies put that in them? Why not just put everything except that? The story doesn't check out for me.

A4ET8a8uTh0 3y ago

This one[1] is more recent and it will affect otc cough syrup in its current form. But I was thinking about the impact removing DXM [2] from cough medicine. edit: The net effect of those being that anything that actually works requires prescription. [1] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-fda-seek-public-opinion-before-deciding-disallowing-popular-cough-syrup-2023-09-14/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-fda-seek-public-opinion-... [2] https://www.webmd.com/parenting/teens-cough-medicine-abuse https://www.webmd.com/parenting/teens-cough-medicine-abuse

ceejayoz 3y ago
> This one[1] is more recent and it will affect otc cough syrup in its current form. Functionally, no, it won't. The ingredient doesn't do anything; it's a scam.
kube-system 3y ago
Phenylephrine should be banned as an oral decongestant in all cold medicines, prescription and OTC, because it is a scam and doesn't work. It basically serves as a way to sell people OTC decongestants, since the one that actually works (pseudoephedrine) is BTC.
- dataflow 3y ago
  > Phenylephrine should be banned as an oral decongestant in all cold medicines, prescription and OTC, because it is a scam and doesn't work. How do people keep buying it and using it if it genuinely doesn't do anything for them?
  - kube-system 3y ago
    1. the placebo effect is strong 2. people believe the box and/or ads 3. it comes in combination drugs and people don't actually know what each drug does. many people simply "buy cold medicine" when they have a cold, with no thought to the mechanism of the components. If you're in a place where it is legal you haven't tried it before, next time you have a stuffy nose, give it a try. It doesn't do anything at all, and studies prove it!
    - dataflow 3y ago
      > If you're in a place where it is legal you haven't tried it before, next time you have a stuffy nose, give it a try. It doesn't do anything at all, and studies prove it! The reason I asked is that I've tried the OTC decongestant sprays (which I believe have phenylephrine in them?) some years ago, and they've worked damn well. I don't really believe that the sprays don't work, if that's the claim. But I don't know enough to tell whether the phenylephrine in particular has any effect, and I didn't memorize the ingredient lists of the ones I've bought and tried.
      - ceejayoz 3y ago
        > The reason I asked is that I've tried the OTC decongestant sprays (which I believe have phenylephrine in them?) some years ago, and they've worked damn well. They're likely multi-medication sprays. Even if they were purely phenylephrine as an active (lol) ingredient, saline nasal spray (water!) helps with some stuffy noses, especially allergy-driven ones. "A spray with phenylephrine in it worked" and "the phenyleprhine worked" are very different things.
        BobaFloutist 3y ago
        Iirc the research suggests that phenylephrine actually works ok in nasal sprays, it just doesn't work orally.
        dataflow 3y ago
        But if they work without phenylephrine then why do companies put that in them? Why not just put everything except that? The story doesn't check out for me.