Cough Dropouts

“Last year, the FDA recommended that phenylephrine, a decongestant in many popular cold medicines that’s been proven to be ineffective when taken orally, be removed from pharmacy shelves. (It’ll take a while for that to happen, which explains why you might still find the ingredient in NyQuil and other cold medicines.) But that doesn’t mean all the other syrups and gels and tablets available for purchase are effective. In fact, most over-the-counter cold medicines do very little to reduce the symptoms that cause us the most misery during respiratory virus season.” It’s that time of year. We walk the aisles of our local pharmacy and load our shopping baskets with products that (when we’re not desperate for relief) we know probably won’t make a difference. Vox has a guide of things that might help (and the stuff that definitely won’t). Put down that cough medicine.