I don't know about you, but nasal decongestants have never really done it for me. I take a pill, I'm still stuffed up. An hour later, I'm still stuffed up. Very frustrating.

So honestly it's kinda good to feel validated this way:

A review by the Food and Drug Administration declared that a common ingredient in over-the-counter cold and flu medication is not effective and could cause big brands to have to reformulate their medicine.

A two-day review by an FDA panel ruled that phenylephrine, the most common active compound in many brands of cold medication, is "not effective" at standard or high doses compared to a placebo, the Daily Mail reported. The ruling only applies to oral formulations of the ingredient.

These companies for years have been claiming that their product will de-stoppify your nose and now the FDA is like:

May I ask what took them so long?

(Pseudoephedrine is the drug that Walter White used to make meth.)

But I digress. Better late than never. In any event, this decision could affect a huge host of products on the shelves, including the labels of Benadryl, Sudafed, Robitussin, Vicks and others. Basically all the stuff we've been relying on for years to open our nasal passages.

(Note: Diphenhydramine, the anti-allergy main ingredient of Benadryl, is still quite effective.)

According to the FDA, the sale of those drugs "generated $1.8 billion in 2022." That's a lot of money on a product that apparently does nothing.

I guess until the pharmaceutical industry figures this out, I'll be using steam baths and tissues to get myself breathing again.

It does make one wonder though: If it took decades to figure out that a drug hundreds of millions of us put into our bodies does absolutely nothing, what else will we learn in the years down the road?

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