P&G, Kenvue, Walgreens face class action suit over cold medicine drug
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Editors's note: This article was updated at 435p ET to reflect that Walgreens Boots Alliance is named in the lawsuit. It was updated again at 1015a ET on Sept. 15 to add GSK as a defendant.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG), Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) have been named in a class action lawsuit in New Jersey over the use of a drug in popular over-the-counter cold remedies.

The suit accuses the companies of misleading consumers over accusations that phenylephrine, a nasal decongestant, doesn't work.
Kenvue (KVUE), whose brands until recently were part of the consumer health segment of J&J (NYSE:JNJ), markets Sudafed and Benadryl, while P&G (PG) makes DayQuil and NyQuil. Versions of these products contain phenylephrine.
On Sept. 12, a panel of FDA advisors unanimously agreed that phenylephrine lacks efficacy.

The lawsuit says that the companies have long known that phenylephrine was ineffective.


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