★★☆Single study — solid evidence, such as one good trial or a large observational dataset, but not replicated at the top tier.
By count, phenylephrine outsold pseudoephedrine in US pharmacies
From 2012 to 2021, pharmacies bought 19.8 billion units of phenylephrine products against 13.2 billion of pseudoephedrine, and all but 21 of 732 phenylephrine products were mixes.
What the study found
US pharmacies bought 19.8 billion units of phenylephrine in ten years
From 2012 to 2021, US pharmacies bought 19.8 billion units of phenylephrine products, a tablet or 5 mL each, against 13.2 billion of pseudoephedrine, whose sales fell. All but 21 of 732 phenylephrine products were mixes. Makers switched to it after US rules restricted pseudoephedrine.
The caveat · Pharmacy sales only
Units count each tablet or 5 mL of liquid, not courses of treatment. Stores without a pharmacy, such as gas stations, are not counted.