00:00Phenylephrine is very effective as a decongestant.
00:06So when people have colds or flus and you get a blocked nose or you get that sinus pain,
00:11phenylephrine is quite effective at addressing that if it's applied topically.
00:16But what's happened is there's another substance which is called pseudoephedrine, which is
00:20also very effective as a decongestant, and that was available in the market up until
00:27about 2006, and then there was restrictions placed on that because it was being diverted
00:32and used to manufacture other drugs like methamphetamines.
00:38So that's much harder to get now.
00:39So what the pharmaceutical companies did is they switched it out for the phenylephrine,
00:45but phenylephrine just isn't effective when it's taken as a tablet.
00:50And that is how it's being sold at the moment, and that's the claim that the law company,
00:57the law firm that's launching the class action has made, is that it is being sold in tablet
01:02form but it's not effective in tablet form as a decongestant.
01:06And what are the lawyers saying about the strength of the case?
01:09How confident are they that they're going to win this, and what's the possibility of
01:13compensation?
01:14Yes, so they are looking for people now to participate in the class action, so anyone
01:19who has bought and taken these products since 2005 can participate in the class action.
01:27All the way back to then?
01:29Yep.
01:30And so, you know, some people would have bought quite a few packets and been using it over
01:35several years.
01:36But you would have had to have kept your receipts, wouldn't you, if you were going to be part
01:40of this?
01:41They have said that you don't need to have the receipts, that I'm not quite sure how
01:46they're going to make sure that you have been a consumer, and the compensation would
01:52be that if they are successful in this pursuit, you could be compensated the cost of the medication
02:00that you bought.
02:01And have you seen any comments from the pharmaceutical company at this stage on this?
02:04No, we have contacted them, but we're yet to hear from them or the TGA about whether
02:09they're going to take any steps to further regulate these substances.
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