The meds shown all contain phenylephrine, marketed as Sudafed PE. The active ingredient in the original "real" Sudafed was pseudoephedrine which was very effective. I took it daily for years for chronic allergies. The problem with pseudoephedrine was that it was chemically close to methamphetamine and the easiest way to make crystal meth was to start with pseudoephedrine. There were problems with stores being bought out of pseudoephedrine, or all stock being stolen, to the point of trailer trucks full of pseudoephedrine being stolen to make meth.

To restrict the supply of meth, access to pseudoephedrine was restricted by either making it prescription-only, or put behind the pharmacy counter with a strict limit of how many mg of pseudoephedrine you could buy each month (they tracked purchases by your driver's license number).

If you suffer from allergies you already know that phenylephrine is useless. I'm happy to see they are acknowledging that fact. The video is misleading in that the other active ingredients in Benadryl (Diphenhydramine HCl antihistamine) and Mucinex (guaifenesin expectorant) are still effective drugs.

The meds shown all have phenylephrine, marketed as Sudafed PE. The active ingredient in the original "real" Sudafed was pseudoephedrine which was very effective. I took it daily for years for chronic allergies. The problem with pseudoephedrine was that it was chemically close to methamphetamine and could be relatively easily used to make crystal meth. There were problems with stores being bought out of pseudoephedrine, or all stock being stolen, to the point of trailer trucks full of pseudoephedrine being stolen to make meth.

To restrict the supply of meth, ultimately pseudoephedrine was either made prescription only, or put behind the pharmacy counter with a strict limit of how many mg of pseudoephedrine you could buy each month (they tracked purchases by your driver's license number).

If you are an allergy sufferer you already know that phenylephrine is useless. I'm happy to see they are acknowledging that fact. The video is misleading in that the other active ingredients in Benadryl (Diphenhydramine HCl antihistamine) and Mucinex (guaifenesin expectorant) are still effective drugs.