CVS Health to Pull Decongestants With Phenylephrine

CVS Health will remove from its shelves certain oral cough and cold products with phenylephrine as the only active ingredient, the U.S. pharmacy chain said on Thursday.

A panel of advisers to the U.S. health regulator last month refused to back the effectiveness of oral over-the-counter (OTC) medicines made with phenylephrine, which is widely used in cold and cough syrups.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is yet to remove phenylephrine from its list of ingredients for OTC use and plans to seek public opinion before making a decision.

"Other oral cough and cold products will continue to be offered to meet consumer needs," CVS said.

Rival pharmacy chain Walgreens said on Thursday it follows FDA regulations and was monitoring the situation.

Benadryl, Kenvue's Tylenol and GSK's Advil are among the prominent cough and cold syrups containing phenylephrine that are sold in the U.S.