BOGUS DECONGESTANTS Now that we’re in the middle of the cold and flu season, I thought it was timely to talk about useless nasal decongestants. Back in September, an advisory panel for the FDA found that phenylephrine—the common ingredient in several over-the-counter decongestant cold and allergy medicines—doesn’t work. Phenylephrine is the primary ingredient in the most popular oral decongestants on the market. It gained popularity two decades ago as a replacement for pseudoephedrine, the decongestant used in Sudafed. (In an attempt to prevent its misuse as an ingredient to make methamphetamine, Sudafed began requiring its customers to request it from...