UPDATE 1-J&J, P&G sued after FDA panel ruling on cold medicine decongestant

A new lawsuit accuses Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble of having deceived consumers about decongestant cold medicines containing an ingredient that a unanimous U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel this week declared ineffective. According to a proposed class action filed on Wednesday in Pensacola, Florida, federal court, the companies knew or should have known by 2018 that their marketing claims about products containing phenylephrine were false and misleading. That year was when new FDA guidance for evaluating symptoms related to nasal congestion demonstrated that earlier data about phenylephrine's effectiveness could no longer be relied upon, the complaint said.