HEALTH

ERSP recommends truDERMA discontinue certain claims supporting Troxyphen
NEW YORK — The Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program on Tuesday recommended that truDERMA discontinue certain claims for the company’s Troxyphen dietary supplement, including claims that the product is “safe and clinically researched.”

As support for the performance and establishment claims at issue, the marketer submitted testing on its key ingredient. After reviewing the evidence, ERSP concluded that truDERMA provided a reasonable basis for claims relating to an “increased sex drive.”
Asthma solutions in demand
The one-time $100 million asthma-relief brand Primatene may make a comeback to the marketplace after a more than two-year hiatus. Primatene Mist had been withdrawn from the market in December 2011 when the agency removed all inhalers containing chlorofluorocarbons from the market.

Mucinex to tap into robust nighttime market

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Reckitt Benckiser this season extended its line of popular Mucinex Fast-Max to include a product for nighttime cold and flu relief in both liquid and tablet form.

According to the company, nighttime relief is a $600 million market in the United States, and Mucinex Fast-Max is differentiated from its competitors because it contains an active ingredient for nasal decongestion.
Segmentation on the horizon

Retailers were preparing for the imminent launch of Chattem’s Nasacort Allergy 24HR nasal spray (triamcinolone intranasal) last month, clearing out quite a bit of shelf space for the new allergy remedy.

(For the full category review, including sales data, click here.)
CDC: Flu rates on the decline but still prevalent across 13 states

ATLANTA — While flu activity declined slightly from the week prior, incidence of influenza-like illness rates remained above the national baseline for the week ended Feb. 8, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday.

Six states were still experiencing high ILI activity, including Arkansas, Connecticut, Kansas, New York, Oklahoma and Texas.
Study: Vitamin D supplementation may augment chronic hive therapy

OMAHA, Neb. — A study by researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center found that vitamin D as an add-on therapy could provide some relief for chronic hives, a condition with no cure and few treatment options.

Jill Poole, associate professor in the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine, was principal investigator of a study in the Feb. 7 edition of the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. The two-year study looked at the role of over-the-counter vitamin D3 as a supplemental treatment for chronic hives.
Cough-cold rewind: 20 years of growth

This year, ECRM celebrates 20 years of successfully pairing buyers and sellers across the consumer packaged goods industry. As part of that celebration, and in correlation to the ECRM Cough-Cold, Analgesics and Allergy event, DSN editors thought it’d be a good idea to look back through the last 20 years of the cough-cold business at retail.
Prevention key as people forgo sick days

Prevention. That’s currently one of the predominant themes in cough-cold. Perhaps it’s a sign of the times. With the economy still undergoing a slow recovery, 90% of workers recently reported they would opt to report to work sick vs. calling out, according to the fourth annual Flu Season Survey from Staples.
Sales of Nyquil, Dayquil continue rise

NEW YORK — Another nighttime remedy that historically has performed well is Procter & Gamble’s combo pack of Vicks Nyquil and Vicks Dayquil. Sales of the combo liquids were up 94.2% to $39 million, and sales of its tablet combo pack were up 16% to $45.7 million. Vicks combination packs may soon get another lift from the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Russia, of which P&G is one of the corporate sponsors. The Vicks Nyquil/Dayquil brands tapped U.S. Alpine skier Ted Ligety as a spokesman this season.
Merz North America launches Mederma PM

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Merz North America recently launched Mederma PM, a new one-of-a-kind scar cream formulated to work at night, when skin naturally regenerates faster.

Mederma PM Intensive Overnight Scar Cream is formulated to complement this nighttime activity with Tripeptol, a skin-nourishing complex with peptides, collagen and antioxidants to promote healthy-looking skin and help skin fight free radical damage.