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A key ingredient in many over-the-counter cold and allergy medications called phenylephrine doesn’t work to get rid of nasal congestion, a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel concluded Tuesday. The unanimous vote, which specifically declared oral formulations of phenylephrine ineffective, is expected to disrupt the market for OTC cold and allergy remedies, where consumers largely prefer pills over nasal sprays. Phenylephrine — found in drugs including Sudafed PE, Vicks Sinex and Benadryl Allergy Plus Congestion — is the most popular oral decongestant in the United States, generating almost $1.8 billion in sales last year, according to data presented Monday by...

A 28-year-old North Carolina man is facing a murder charge after allegedly stabbing his wife in bed — but the newlywed claims he doesn’t remember carrying out the alleged crime because he might have done it in his sleep, PEOPLE confirms. Matthew Phelps, of Raleigh, called police distraught early Friday morning, declaring that his wife, Lauren, was dead on their bedroom floor covered in blood. “I had a dream and then I turned on the lights and she’s dead on the floor,” he says in a 911 call obtained by PEOPLE. “I have blood all over me and there’s a...

Media speculation as well as internet buzz are openly querying if Trayvon Martin's purchase of Skittles and Arizona Watermelon Fruit Cocktail Juice on the night he died were just to satisfy a young man's sweet tooth or were they two of the three ingredients in a dangerous codeine-based concoction, as reported by the pop culture news portal RashManly.com on July 12, 2013. Martin has been portrayed by his supporters as an innocent youth armed with nothing more than a bag of Skittles candy and a can of Arizona Iced Tea on the night he was killed by neighborhood watch captain...

WAKE FOREST, N.C. --North Carolina started enforcing its new law intended to stop the spread of methamphetamine labs on Sunday. Since 1999 the number of meth labs in the state has skyrocketed. Then the State Bureau of Investigation busted nine labs; in 2005 they discovered 328 of them. As of Jan. 15 you must be at least 18, show photo ID and sign a log if you want to by over-the-counter cold medicines such as Sudafed and Tylenol Cold. Both medicines contain either pseudoephedrine or ephedrine, which are key ingredients used to make meth. (snip) Under the new law you...

Associated Press CHICAGO — Pocket-size throat sprays. Thin strips that melt in your mouth. Freezer pops. Like Mary Poppins with her spoonful of sugar, the makers of cold remedies are offering creative ways to help the medicine go down. The active ingredients aren't new, but the method for taking the medicine is. Growth in the over-the-counter cough and cold category is driven by new products, so tinkering with how people swallow the same old decongestants, cough suppressants and antihistamines is one way to appeal to shoppers. And for cold sufferers, a new twist on an old product offers a psychological...

AUSTIN -- Cold remedies such as Sudafed would be placed in secure counters in Texas drug stores, and records would be kept on who purchases it under legislation designed to combat the manufacture of methamphetamine that won unanimous Senate approval on Wednesday. "By requiring placement behind the pharmacy counter the ingredient that meth cooks must have, we will drastically reduce the ability of drug abusers to cook this highly volatile drug in our fields, neighborhoods, apartment complexes, hotels and even vehicles," said state Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, the legislation's author. Estes backed off from his earlier proposal in Senate...