A Winnipeg nurse is seeking class-action status for her lawsuit against several top drug companies, accusing them of profiting for decades by marketing non-prescription oral decongestant medications containing an active ingredient that several studies have found ineffective.
In September, a panel of 16 external advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously that phenylephrine is ineffective as a decongestant when taken in pill form.
The FDA’s expert advisers came to that conclusion after finding that only trace levels of the drug reach nasal passages to relieve congestion when taken orally.
“While the losses by individual consumers may be relatively modest, the scale of this case is large, given the popularity of the products and the amount of time that they were sold for,” Sokolov said in a statement.
But the suit says through prominent claims displayed on packaging and public websites, the companies knowingly or recklessly led consumers, wholesalers, retailers and distributors to believe phenylephrine works as an oral decongestant.
Representatives from Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline told CBC News that they have not sold the mentioned products since 2019, as both of their consumer health-care businesses demerged into Haleon.
The original article contains 672 words, the summary contains 182 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
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A Winnipeg nurse is seeking class-action status for her lawsuit against several top drug companies, accusing them of profiting for decades by marketing non-prescription oral decongestant medications containing an active ingredient that several studies have found ineffective.
In September, a panel of 16 external advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously that phenylephrine is ineffective as a decongestant when taken in pill form.
The FDA’s expert advisers came to that conclusion after finding that only trace levels of the drug reach nasal passages to relieve congestion when taken orally.
“While the losses by individual consumers may be relatively modest, the scale of this case is large, given the popularity of the products and the amount of time that they were sold for,” Sokolov said in a statement.
But the suit says through prominent claims displayed on packaging and public websites, the companies knowingly or recklessly led consumers, wholesalers, retailers and distributors to believe phenylephrine works as an oral decongestant.
Representatives from Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline told CBC News that they have not sold the mentioned products since 2019, as both of their consumer health-care businesses demerged into Haleon.
The original article contains 672 words, the summary contains 182 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!