What is the real reason that the Bush administration made the change? Back in 2007, I got curious and looked it up. The old ingredient was out of patent and manufactured for pennies each. The new product was produced by Boehringer Ingelheim Corp, a German company that back then gave mostly to Republicans.
I would be interested to know how much of the above is true. It might not have been a primary motivation, but certainly secondary reasons matter. More likely it is a “just so” narrative?
"Experts have long doubted the effectiveness of phenylephrine," "They are telling us this 16 years after the FDA forced the ingredient as the substitute for a product that actually works, which is pseudoephedrine."
