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CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

arstechnica.com

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Re: CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

#21

Post by codezero »

declan_roberts wrote: post #15
MBCook wrote: post #3

But they leave the homeopathic junk mixed in as if it was actual medicine.

[flagged]

because it's often the case that people don't know its homeopathic. I consider myself pretty smart but fell for Zicam marketing for quite a while. It matters because it can prevent people from seeking effective treatment, especially when they are placed on the same shelf as things that are vetted by the FDA.

Re: CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

#22

Post by CaliforniaKarl »

junon wrote: post #4

I'm more surprised Sudafed was shown as an OTC. Isn't that one of the ingredients in meth? Not really the subject of the article but it struck me as odd.

That picture shows "Sudafed PE". The product "Sudafed", which contains Pseudoephedrine, still exists.

As per https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/over-counter-med..., "Over-the-counter (OTC) medicines are those that can be sold directly to people without a prescription.". Sudafed—the real Sudafed—is still OTC, by that definition.

Re: CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

#24

Post by rubyfan »

barney54 wrote: post #5
junon wrote: post #4

I'm more surprised Sudafed was shown as an OTC. Isn't that one of the ingredients in meth? Not really the subject of the article but it struck me as odd.

Not real Sudafed. Real Sudafed isn’t OTC because it is pseudoephedrine—in fact that’s where Sudafed got its name.

Wow, I have legit never made that connection.

Re: CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

#25

Post by woodruffw »

declan_roberts wrote: post #15
MBCook wrote: post #3

But they leave the homeopathic junk mixed in as if it was actual medicine.

[flagged]

I don’t think that’s what the OP is saying. They’re pointing out that it’s inconsistent for CVS to offer their stated rationale for phenylephrine while continuing to shelve homeopathics.

Whether or not it’s personally bothersome doesn’t enter into it; the inconsistency is itself noteworthy.

Re: CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

#29

Post by jeroenhd »

declan_roberts wrote: post #15
MBCook wrote: post #3

But they leave the homeopathic junk mixed in as if it was actual medicine.

[flagged]

There's nothing wrong with buying homoeopathic tinctures if you like them, but putting them right next to medicine legitimises them for those who don't know any better.

It's not like these tinctures are hand-crafted by some wise old shaman, they're mass produced by billion dollar companies profiting off the association with proven medicine. The confusion and misinformation is problematic, not the sale of the tinctures themselves.

Re: CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

#30

Post by wging »

delecti wrote: post #7
junon wrote: post #4

I'm more surprised Sudafed was shown as an OTC. Isn't that one of the ingredients in meth? Not really the subject of the article but it struck me as odd.

Sudafed (edit: also ) makes (or at least made) products with phenylephrine, the useless drug in question. Those products don't contain pseudoephedrine, which can indeed be used as a precursor to making meth. Edit: I did not say that Sudafed did not also make products containing pseudoephedrine. They do, obviously, it's where their name comes from. They just also make products with useless phenylephrine.

Sudafed also makes pseudoephedrine HCl, which works. That’s why their name is a contraction of ‘pseudoephedrine’.
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