CVS pulls some cough-and-cold treatments with ingredient deemed ineffective; some Long Island stores still carry them

CVS Health is pulling from its shelves some cough-and-cold treatments that contain an ingredient that has been deemed ineffective by doctors and researchers.

The drugstore chain said it will remove a small number of oral decongestants that contain phenylephrine as the only active ingredient. CVS also said it will still sell “many other oral cough and cold products to meet consumer needs.”

A company spokeswoman declined to elaborate on how many products will be removed when contacted by The Associated Press on Friday.

CVS Health runs more than 9,000 stores in the United States. Representatives of its national rival, Walgreens, has not pulled any products.

A Walgreens spokeswoman said the company is monitoring the situation and partnering with its clinical integrity office and suppliers “on appropriate next steps.”

U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisers voted unanimously last month against the effectiveness of phenylephrine, which is found in some versions of Sudafed, DayQuil and other medications stocked on store shelves.

The FDA had asked its outside advisers to examine the long-questioned drug ingredient. Studies conducted in the past few years by the drugmakers Merck and Johnson & Johnson have shown no difference between phenylephrine medications and placebos for relieving congestion.

The FDA, which has not acted on the recommendation of its advisers, said the drug appears more effective when applied directly to the nose, in sprays or drops. Those products are not under review.

Phenylephrine had become the main drug in over-the-counter decongestants when medicines with an older ingredient — pseudoephedrine — were moved behind pharmacy counters. A 2006 law had forced the move because pseudoephedrine can be illegally processed into methamphetamine.

Those original versions of Sudafed and other medicines remain available without a prescription.

The CVS Health announcement comes shortly before another cold-and-flu season starts in the United States as winter sets in.  Last year, an unusually fast start to the season led to shortages of Children’s Tylenol and other medications customers can purchase over-the-counter, or without a prescription.

A sampling by phone of Long Island CVS pharmacies in Huntington, Huntington Station, Mineola, Coram and East Islip found products with phenylephrine as the only active ingredient — such as Sudafed PE and DayQuil Cold & Flu Relief — still on store shelves as of late Friday afternoon, but earlier in the day they were being removed from the Hicksville store. 

An official email statement from CVS corporate offices did not address questions about why some Long Island locations had not removed the products or when that could happen.

The affected products were also still being sold at smaller drugstores contacted by Newsday.

“We have not been instructed by the FDA to remove anything,” said Howard Jacobson, owner of Rockville Centre Pharmacy. “If they feel there’s a risk to patients, then they’ll tell us immediately. I’m going to wait to hear from them.”

OnPoint Pharmacy in Port Jefferson was also still selling the affected products as usual, and its Manhasset store was as well.

“We still carry them,” Margie McDonald, manager of the Manhasset store said of products containing phenylephrine. “We’ll still carry them until there’s a recall or something else.” She noted she does not speak for all the OnPoint stores, however, since they are independently owned.

With Lisa Irizarry