Codral Day & Night Tablet is one of the products named in the class action. Photo: RNZ
A lawyer leading a class action lawsuit says New Zealanders may have spent a significant amount on ineffective medicines.
Law firm JGA Saddler is bringing the lawsuit against pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, saying they have sold cold and flu medicines that have been proven not to work.
JGA Saddler director Rebecca Jancauskas told Checkpoint why there was a problem with the medication.
"The problem is that the main active ingredient phenylephrine is ineffective at treating congestion when these products are taken orally, that means when a tablet or capsule is swallowed or when a liquid or syrup is ingested orally the phenylephrine is ineffective at treating the symptoms that it was marketed to treat."
Phenylephrine was effective when it was used in a nasal spray, but the benefit was lost if it was taken orally, she said.
"These products were no more effective than a placebo at treating the symptoms that they were marketed to treat."
The faulty cold and flu medicines were not cheap with packets costing from $20-$30 depending on how many pills they contained, she said.
That compares to a bulk packet of Panadol which would have made you feel better and only cost a few dollars, she said.
"When you've got Kiwis who particularly who have young kids are getting sick all the time, or people have sinus issues, allergies, you know there are some people who are forking out substantial sums of money each year on this product, on these products.
"These are trusted, very popular household names, you know Codral, Sudafed, Benadryl - these are market leading brands that have been trusted by Kiwis for decades."
Rebecca Jancauskas said the faulty products were no better than a placebo. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi
Companies which sold products that did not do what they said they would on the packet it was important to hold them to account, she said.
The amount some people spent on these medications over the years was considerable, she said.
"If you're spending $25-$30 a packet on these medications, often you know 10-20 times a year or more over 20 years with interest, that's a fair bit of money."
Studies on the effectiveness of phenylephrine when taken orally demonstrated that it had never been effective, she said.
"Studies that go back to the '60s and '70s show that phenylephrine is no more effective than a placebo at treating blocked and stuffy noses, sinus pressure and congestion.
"So these products have been sold under the marketing slogans of you know 'soldier on' and 'clears blocked and stuffy noses' and these marketing claims have been made for 20 years but they're simply not correct."
The products should not have been sold under the marketing claims that they were sold under, she said.
Jancauskas said she was not aware of any high quality studies which showed that phenylephrine was effective when ingested orally.
She said that prompted the American food and drugs administration to review the literature on phenylephrine and the US Food and Drug to announce plans to ban products contain phenylephrine from the US market.
It was likely that regulators in other countries would follow suit, she said.
'We're aiming to get compensation for every Kiwi who bought these products'
Jancauskas said the class action was "seeking to recover compensation on behalf of all New Zealand consumers who purchased these products at some stage from 2005 onwards".
The products in question first came on to the market in 2005 but some of them are still on pharmacy and supermarket shelves today, she said.
The action would seek compensation for the purchase price of the ineffective products over the years, she said.
Those who wanted to sign up to the class action did not need receipts or proof of purchase for the product, she said.
There would be no cost for those wanting to register for the class action, but they would get reimbursed if the case was successful, she said.
"We encourage everyone, whether you've bought five packets or fifty packets, we encourage every New Zealander to register."
Anyone wanting to register could do so on coldandfluclassaction.co.nz.
The legal company has launched a similar class action in Australia.
RNZ has approached Johnson & Johnson for comment.
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