BIG PHARMA FINALLY FOILED –
Nov. 3, 2023 – Dr. Hendeles, an expert in pharmacokinetics, or the way medicines move throughout the body, was the first to critique phenylephrine in 1993 in a study that compared the efficacy of that and other more cold remedies including pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient of Sudafed. But for all their findings pointing to its inefficacy since that first 1993 report, the FDA and consumer groups continued to brush off their concerns, insisting that the ingredient was worth keeping on store shelves.
This also kept drug manufacturers happy, given that the phenylephrine medicine industry reaped nearly $2 billion in profits last year.
