By Rachael Robertson
Source Medpagetoday
The cold and flu aisles of pharmacies are bursting with options, though most share a relatively small roster of active ingredients in various combinations. MedPage Today spoke with a pharmacist and a physician to find out which over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are actually effective — and which ones patients should leave on the shelves.
Jack Kann, RPh, MPA, MBA, director of pharmacy at South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, New York, told MedPage Today that the best approach to cold and flu medicine is matching the specific symptoms with the right active ingredient.
A lot of common OTC drugs have multi-symptom formulas, which Kann said can lead to taking unnecessary medicine with potentially unnecessary side effects.
Pieter Cohen, MD, of Cambridge Health Alliance in Massachusetts who has long studied OTC supplement products, agreed that multi-symptom drugs aren’t the best approach.
Read more https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/112665