Content about Decongestants

CINCINNATI Procter & Gamble voluntarily recalled its 4-hour decongestant nasal spray, a product distributed nationwide in the United States.

P&G said it is taking this voluntary precautionary step after finding that the product formulation for VapoSpray 4-hour nasal spray by Sinex may not meet the expiration dates on the package. This recall is not a result of consumer complaints, the company noted.

NEW YORK In a nutshell, this program gives any legislative body — state or local — debating around whether a prescription ought to be required in the purchase of a pseudoephedrine product one less reason to pull the trigger on that decision. And it’s a pretty big reason. Before, the argument could be made that implementing a program like NPLEx was prohibitive because of the associated cost.

NEW YORK The objective here is closing down clandestine methamphetamine labs. The question is: Who is going to bear the cost? And the answer, ultimately, is the consumer.

It seems that one of the primary reasons behind legislation like this, which is also under consideration by the California state legislature as well as several local municipalities throughout Missouri, is cost shifting.

NEW YORK Attempting to curtail methamphetamine production by more or less eliminating the precursor ingredient pseudoephedrine from the market is kind of like throwing out the baby with the bathwater. PSE is a legitimate self-care option that is, according to general consensus, more effective than the other cough-cold decongestant on the market — phenylephrine. And restricting access to that self-care option hurts legitimate consumers more than it does meth cooks. But more on that in a second.