Winnipeg nurse's lawsuit against top drug companies claims they marketed decongestants that don't work

Stacey O'Reilly, a nurse with 33 years of experience, has purchased various drugs for herself and her family over 8 times a year, believing that these drugs can treat nasal deviation.

"None of these products have acted as effective medications," O'Reilly claims in a recent lawsuit, referring to the FDA's September decision. "If she knew that these products were ineffective when taken internally, she wouldn't have purchased them."

Louis Sokoloff, one of O'Reilly's attorneys, states that some of these drugs are still available for sale in Canada.

A Winnipeg nurse is now seeking class-action status for her lawsuit against several leading pharmaceutical companies accused of profiting for decades through the marketing of over-the-counter nasal decongestant drugs without a prescription, which various studies have shown to be ineffective.

In her legal claim presented to the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench on November 10, Barb Avery alleges that for nearly 50 years, officials in the pharmaceutical industry have violated food and drug laws, as well as several consumer protection and/or business practices laws, by promoting phenylephrine as an effective drug for nasal decongestion in pill form, contrary to evidence.

The accused companies in this lawsuit include Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer Canada, Procter & Gamble, and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare. All four are linked to 24 over-the-counter oral decongestant drugs containing phenylephrine as the sole claimed active ingredient, also purportedly found in many common cold remedies such as various Benylin, Neosynephrine, and Tylenol products.

None of the claims have been proven in court, and defense statements have not yet been filed. Phenylephrine became the primary ingredient in over-the-counter decongestants in the United States after the restriction of pseudoephedrine in 2006 due to its potential to be illegally converted into methamphetamine.

In September, a team of 16 external advisors unanimously voted to the US Food and Drug Administration that phenylephrine is ineffective as a nasal decongestant in pill form.

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