Hokum-Balderdash Assay

Looks like OTC cough syrups may just be a waste of money:

Over-the-counter cough syrups generally contain drugs in too low a dose to be effective, or contain combinations of drugs that have never been proven to treat coughs, said Dr. Richard Irwin, chairman of a cough guidelines committee for the American College of Chest Physicians.

...

'[T]he best studies that we have to date would suggest there's not a lot of justification for using these medications because they haven't been shown to work," said Irwin, a professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Mass.

I'd offer my personal anecdotes to vouch for that, but critical thinkers out there would lynch me. Yes, yes, yes. Confirmation bias, selective recall, lack of controls, etc., etc.

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association, a trade group for makers of over-the-counter medications, disputed the guidelines and said over-the-counter cough medicines provide relief to millions of people each year.

I sure hope they have good studies to support that claim. I'd like to know how much more effective these various cough relief medications are over sugar syrup (strawberry-flavored please).

Dextromethorphan is in Robitussin, a top-selling over-the-counter cough syrup. It is among Robitussin ingredients that the Food and Drug Administration has found to be safe and effective, said Francis Sullivan, a spokesman for Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, which makes Robitussin.

Sullivan said Robitussin “wouldn't be a top brand if people didn't feel it was efficacious.”

Oh! So this is the way Wyeth determines the efficacy of their OTCs--compare sales figures. Well, while they're at it, why not use testimonials as a gauge as well.

I don't hear Sullivan stating, much less emphasizing, that the level of dextromethorphan in Robitussin has been found to be effective. Can he please address that issue? Of course, Wyeth can, instead, highlight the "safe" part. How about reducing the amount of the active ingredient so they can claim it to be safer than ever? Are those homeopaths I hear in the distance?