CHPA comments on WHO’s DXM issue
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Congress "explicitly excluded" dextromethorphan from U.S. controlled substance laws, the Consumer Healthcare Product Association says in its comments to FDA about possible international restrictions on the OTC cough/cold ingredient. CHPA responds Oct. 20 to FDA's Sept. 5 request for comments on formulating a report to the World Health Organization on DXM (1"The Tan Sheet" Sept. 8, 2008, p. 5). The trade group says "there is no practical substitute for [DXM] as a cough suppressant" because among other ingredients on FDA's OTC cough/cold monograph, codeine is a controlled substance, diphenhydramine is more commonly used as an antihistamine and chlopheniadol has not been used "for decades in the U.S." in nonprescription cough medicines. CHPA supports legislation that would restrict sales of bulk DXM and place an age limit of 18 for sales of OTCs with the ingredient
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