Hoax/Legend?

DRUG RECALL INFORMATION

All drugs containing PHENYLPROPANOLAMINE are being recalled.
You may want to try calling the 800 number listed on most
drug boxes and inquire about a REFUND Please read this
CAREFULLY. Also, please pass this on to everyone you know.

STOP TAKING anything containing this ingredient. It has been
linked to increased hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in brain)
among women ages 18-49 in the three days after starting use
of medication. Problems were not found in men, but the FDA
recommended that everyone (even children) seek alternative
medicine.

The following medications contain Phenylpropanolamine:

Acutrim Diet Gum Appetite Suppressant
Acutrim Plus Dietary Supplements
Acutrim Maximum Strength Appetite Control
Alka-Seltzer Plus Children's Cold Medicine Effervescent
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold medicine (cherry or or ange)
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine Original
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Cough Medicine Effervescent
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Flu Medicine
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Sinus Effervescent
Alka Seltzer Plus Night-Time Cold Medicine
BC Allergy Sinus Cold Powder
BC Sinus Cold Powder
Comtrex Flu Therapy & Fever Relief
Day & Night Contac 12-Hour Cold Capsules
Contac 12 Hour Caplets
Coricidin D Cold, Flu & Sinus
Dexatrim Caffeine Free
Dexatrim Extended Duration
Dexatrim Gelcaps
Dexatrim Vitamin C/Caffeine Free
Dimetapp Cold & Allergy Chewable Tablets
Dimetapp Cold & Cough Liqui-Gels
Dimetapp DM Cold & Cough Elixir
Dimetapp Elixir
Dimetapp 4 Hour Liquid Gels
Dimetapp 4 Hour Tablets
Dimetapp 12 Hour Extentabs Tablets
Naldecon DX Pediatric Drops
Permathene Mega-16
Robitussin CF
Tavist-D 12 Hour Relief of Sinus & Nasal
Congestion
Triaminic DM Cough Rel! ief
Triaminic Expectorant Chest & Head
Triaminic Syrup ! ! Cold & amp;am p; Allergy
Triaminic Triaminicol Cold & Cough .....

I just found out and called the 800# on the container
for Triaminic and they informed me that they are voluntarily
recalling the following medicines because of a certain
ingredient that is causing strokes and seizures in children:

Orange 3D Cold & Allergy Cherry (Pink)
3D Cold & Cough Berry
3D Cough Relief Yellow 3D Expectorant

On 6 November 2000, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a public health advisory warning that phenylpropanolamine (PPA), an ingredient found in many over-the-counter cold medications and diet aids, may cause strokes and thus should be avoided. Although the FDA did not issue a mandatory recall of PPA-containing products, they asked drug manufacturers to voluntarily stop selling products containing PPA and provide safer alternatives. As a result, most products that formerly included PPA have now been discontinued or reformulated without PPA while the FDA proceeds with the regulatory process necessary to remove all PPA-containing products from the market.

The list of products cited in the e-mail quoted above is now several years out of date, and as the FDA has noted:
[T]here is no comprehensive, updated list available from FDA. FDA is aware of emails circulating widely that list many products allegedly containing PPA. Those emails are no longer valid and should be ignored. Please read the labels of OTC products to determine if they contain PPA.
The FDA has set up a toll-free number for PPA questions at (888) INFO-FDA. A direct line, although it is not toll-free, is (301) 827-4570. The FDA also has a Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) Information Page available on their web site. The FDA has advised that consumers go through their medicine cabinets, paying special attention to cold remedies and diet aids, and discard any medications that list phenylpropanolamine as one of their
ingredients.

According to the FDA, "Although the risk of hemorrhagic stroke is very low, FDA recommends that consumers not use any products that contain PPA." The FDA warning came as a result of a May 2000 study conducted at Yale University School of Medicine, in which the Hemorrhagic Stroke Project found PPA to increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke, a type of stroke characterized by bleeding in the brain. In October 2000, an FDA advisory committee confirmed the findings in the Yale study published by The New England Journal of Medicine, which suggested that PPA could raise the risk of stroke even in young people aged 18 to 49.

(Not everyone is convinced that PPA poses nearly as much of a threat to consumers as claimed, and some critics have maintained the withdrawal was initiated by an overly cautious FDA based on flawed studies.)

Cool, thanks!