Beware of cough and cold medicines

THE CIVIL servants at the Health Ministry's Standards and Regulation Department move at a snail's pace to new information that could be detrimental to the public's health but already stores in the United States have removed from their shelves products containing the decongestant phenylpropanolamine or PPA.

This action followed an advisory from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that consumers should stop using cold remedies that contain PPA. The FDA says that a recent study indicates a slightly increased risk of stroke in adult women who take over-the-counter cough and cold preparations that contain this active ingredient. Some of the over-the-counter products cited in the study are Robitussin Cough and Cold, Alka-Seltzer Plus, Contac Day and Night and Sudafed. Some popular, over-the-counter diet aid preparations such as Dexatrim also contain PPA.

Back to Profiles in Medicine