Psychiatric side effects attributed to Cold Medication -
Phenylpropanolamine

Deadly Effects of PPA Can Stop More Than a Cold

PPA (or Phenylpropanolamine) is an ingredient that has been commonly
used for decades in numerous cold remedies and diet pills, with
potentially deadly consequences.

Available for at least 53 years, if not longer, Americans have been
taking over 6 billion doses of PPA each year in a wide range of
prescription and over-the-counter products, including such popular
brand names as Alka-Seltzer Cold, Bayer Cold, Dexatrim, Dimetapp,
Robitussin-CF, Dristan, Tavis-D, Allerest, Triaminic, Allergy Relief,
Contac, and Sucrets Cold. By some calculations, as many as 400
over-the-counter products have contained PPA.

Psychiatric side effects attributed to Phenylpropanolamine
by
Lake CR, Masson EB, Quirk RS
Dept. of Psychiatry,
F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine,
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences,
Bethesda, Maryland.
Pharmacopsychiatry 1988 Jul; 21(4):171-81

ABSTRACT

Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) is a sympathomimetic drug similar in
structure to amphetamine which, in the United States, is present in
over 130 medications, primarily decongestants, cough/cold remedies, and
anorectic agents.

We have reviewed 37 cases (published in North America and Europe since
1960) that received diagnoses of acute mania, paranoid schizophrenia,
and organic psychosis and that were attributed to PPA product ingestion

Of the 27 North American case reports, more reactions followed the
ingestion of combination products than preparations containing PPA
alone; more occurred after ingestion of over-the-counter products than
those obtained by prescription or on-the-street; and more of the cases
followed ingestion of recommended doses than overdoses.

Groups at particular risk appear to be those with a past or family
psychiatric history, children under the age of 6 and post-partum women.

Failure to recognize PPA as an etiological agent in the onset of
symptoms usually led to a diagnosis of schizophrenia or mania, lengthy
hospitalization, and treatment with substantial doses of neuroleptics
or lithium.

While generally safe at recommended doses, PPA can be hazardous to
susceptible individuals and we urge physicians to be alert to the
potential for PPA related psychiatric reactions.

We have compiled an alphabetized table (Table 1: Prescription and
Over-the-Counter Products Containing Phenylpropanolamine) allowing busy
clinicians quick access to those drugs containing PPA.

Here is a link:
http://www.amphetamines.com/phenylpropanolamine/

Deadly Effects of PPA Can Stop More Than a Cold

PPA (or Phenylpropanolamine) is an ingredient that has been commonly
used for decades in numerous cold remedies and diet pills, with
potentially deadly consequences.

Available for at least 53 years, if not longer, Americans have been
taking over 6 billion doses of PPA each year in a wide range of
prescription and over-the-counter products, including such popular
brand names as Alka-Seltzer Cold, Bayer Cold, Dexatrim, Dimetapp,
Robitussin-CF, Dristan, Tavis-D, Allerest, Triaminic, Allergy Relief,
Contac, and Sucrets Cold. By some calculations, as many as 400
over-the-counter products have contained PPA.

However, reliable research has linked PPA to dramatically increased
risk factors of stroke, especially in women ages 18 to 49. As a result,
the Food and Drug Administration has banned the use of PPA in all
prescription and nonprescription drugs. Government scientists have also
affirmed that PPA may be responsible for several hundred hemorrhagic
strokes (possibly many more) that have stricken people under the age of
50.

Yet the greatest risk of PPA exposure lies not in new over-the-counter
purchases (since PPA is already banned) but in potentially deadly
"dormant doses" of PPA now lurking in seemingly innocent cold remedies
and diet pills still sitting in medicine cabinets across America.

In a landmark study funded by the pharmaceutical industry itself, Yale
University's School of Medicine has published Phenylpropanolamine &
Risk of Hemorrhagic Stoke: Final Report of the Hemorrhagic Stroke
Project. In this case study, Yale University scientists have shown that
PPA (used in cold, cough and diet products like Robitussin, Dexatrim,
and Accutrim) may significantly increase the risk of stroke, especially
in women. The report is posted on the FDA Web site at:
www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/ppa/default.htm

This Yale University study includes a long history of published serious
adverse events, including hemorrhagic stroke, attributed to PPA going
back as far as 1979. These cases were attributable to PPA because they
typically occurred close in time to ingestion of PPA by otherwise
healthy younger people. There was a lack of other plausible
explanations for the occurrence of these events in these younger
healthy individuals.

Since the outset, Herman Mathis has been on the forefront of PPA
litigation. This means we are well prepared to help you or someone you
know who has suffered the ill effects of PPA. Click here to have one of
our attorneys evaluate your potential claim.

Because the dangers of PPA were not previously known to the public, it
is highly unlikely that the many individuals who suffered hemorrhagic
stroke ever associated that terrible event with their use of seemingly
innocent over-the-counter products containing this drug. Further, even
doctors and other medical personnel may well have failed to make the
connection between the stroke and PPA, because they were unfamiliar
with its dangers.

On November 6, 2000, in response to the Yale University study, the FDA
ordered that all over-the-counter manufacturers remove PPA from their
products.

Legal Link:
http://www.hermanmathis-ppa.com/