no better than a placebo

A Decongestant in Cold Medicines Doesn’t Work at All, an F.D.A. Panel Says: An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration agreed unanimously on Tuesday that a common decongestant ingredient used in many over-the-counter cold medicines is ineffective.

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Among the products: Sudafed Sinus Congestion, Tylenol Cold & Flu Severe, NyQuil Severe Cold & Flu, Theraflu Severe Cold Relief, Mucinex Sinus Max and others. The decongestant is in at least 250 products that were worth nearly $1.8 billion in sales last year...

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On Monday and Tuesday, the panel reviewed several existing studies and largely agreed that the research settled the question that the ingredient was useless and no better than a placebo.