DENVER, Colo. — Johnson & Johnson, Proctor and Gamble, and Walmart are being sued in Colorado over the sale of a decongestant believed to be ineffective. It is just another of developing lawsuits mounting against companies nationwide.
The class action complaint was filed with the United States District Court for the District of Colorado on December 22nd. The complaint claims the companies sold and advertised phenylephrine products, knowing that it wasn't effective.
The lawsuit comes after the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) released a study in September from the Non-prescription Drug Advisory Committee claiming the common active ingredient did not relieve nasal congestion and had little to no actual effect.
The study outlined the potential impacts that the decision could have on the drug industry should the decision be made to pull phenylephrine from the shelves. According to the study, when examining retail sales data an estimated 242 million bottles and packages of over-the-counter cough, cold, and allergy medication contain phenylephrine.
The total of these sales is an estimated $1.763 billion. The study did not take into account retail sales data from Costco, convenience stores, specialty stores, internet sales, phone sales, or kiosks.
Many over-the-counter medications like Tylenol for cold and flu, and Dayquil and Nyquil contain phenylephrine as one of their ingredients
Currently, the FDA has not released plans to pull phenylephrine from shelves. We will continue to follow this case as it makes its way through the courts.
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