Although they need FDA clearance to be available on the shelves of your local pharmacy, some popular medications simply don’t work. At least that’s what a licensed pharmacist on TikTok says.

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This popular TikTok pharmacist is here to tell you what’s worth your money and what will make you as sick as when you first started.

Drug scam?

Grant Harting (@grant_harting on TikTok) is a tri-state licensed pharmacist and certified in integrative medicine. Her website would help people save money on medications.

In a viral video viewed more than 840,000 times, he reveals which popular drugs are actually scams. If you have one in your medicine cabinet, you may want to replace it with one of Harting’s suggestions.

Turning on the light, while ZzzQuil sleep aid is effective, it is less expensive and just as effective in obtaining the Dollar tree versionhe said. Harting claims the branded version is just “alcohol and antihistamines,” and says the Dollar Tree version is more cost-effective.

Colace is a “stool softener”. However, according to one study, it is actually just a placebo. Instead, he says the study experts recommended psyllium fiber supplements (brand name Metamucil) that increase the water content of stools.

Mucinex nature does not actually destroy the “gunk in the lungs”. Harting recommends getting a saline nebulizer or liquid decongestant which will have a soothing effect.

Then Harting says PE Sudafé is “complete and utter garbage of chickpeas” and could be removed from the market. However, Sudafed (no PE behind) is better, but you have to ask for it at the counter.

“Buyer beware, there are some blood pressure and prostate issues you need to talk to a doctor or pharmacist about,” Harting added.

And finally, Harting says Prevagenwhich is supposed to improve memory, is a “complete scam”.

@grant_harting Pharmacist Licensed in Three States Reveals Top 5 Pharmacy Scams! #asmr #scam ♬ original sound – Grant Harting

FDA crackdown

Last year, the Food and Drug Administration’s advisory committee concluded that phenylephrine (a key ingredient in many over-the-counter cold and allergy medications like Sudafed PE, Vicks Nyquil Sinex Nighttime Sinus Relief, and Benadryl Allergy Plus Congestion) doesn’t really help. get rid of nasal congestion, NBC News reported.

An FDA official said he believed the original studies using the drug were “methodologically unsound and do not meet current standards.”

The medication is supposed to relieve congestion by reducing the swelling of the blood vessels in your nasal passages. But when taken orally (rather than as a nasal spray), it barely reaches the nose, which is necessary to relieve congestion.

Not only is it ineffective, but it also causes side effects, including headaches, insomnia, and nervousness.

The FDA still appears to be debating whether these drugs, which essentially falsely advertise their effects, should be taken off shelves and reformulated. This would disrupt a type of product that generated $1.8 billion in sales in 2022.

To be clear, this only applies to oral medications; nasal sprays are effective. People tend to prefer the oral version, and an effective alternative is pseudoephedrine, found in Sudafed (which is different from Sudafed PE).

“We had an hour-long lecture at pharmacy school about how Prevagen was a scam,” read one top comment.

“I tell people all the time that over-the-counter sleeping pills only glorify Benadryl,” one person pointed out.

“You need a website with all the information collected on brand waste and replacement, side by side,” said another.

The Daily Dot reached out to Harting for comment via Instagram and TikTok direct message.

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