Iodine launches cold-flu app to help consumers choose right OTC remedy

SAN FRANCISCO — Iodine, developer of health information website Iodine.com, on Wednesday launched a new Web app for cold and flu season.

 

The new app, at www.iodine.com/cold-and-flu, helps people sift through the 300-plus options in the cold and flu aisle to find and compare medications that treat their own combination of symptoms. 

 

Iodine developed the cold and flu app because choosing between cold medicines is confusing, the developer noted. Drug stores offer more than 300 cold and flu products that combine just four types of ingredients: decongestants, pain and fever reducers, cough suppressants and expectorants (mucus thinners). Each brand name (like Robitussin or Vicks) has its own version of almost every combination, plus various dosage forms (like liquid or tablets) and dosage strengths (like "maximum strength"). Deciphering different products and ingredients is confusing to anyone without medical training.

 

According to Iodine, consumers spend an extra $44 billion a year on brand-name products in drug stores, including over-the-counter medications and other health items, citing National Bureau of Economic Research. Pharmacists are 90% more likely to buy generics, Iodine stated.

 

And people are taking more medicine than they need, Iodine added. Many choose combination products that have more ingredients than they need, putting them at higher risk for side effects, drug interactions and overdoses.

In the app, people can select cold and flu symptoms to see a short list of ingredients that treat them, plus a side-by-side comparison of products that contain those ingredients. Then they can print, text or email the list to themselves to take to the drug store.

 

"We built our cold and flu app because we think consumers are overwhelmed by options and marketing in the cold and flu aisle," stated Amanda Angelotti, director of product at Iodine. "They're overspending on brand names and often taking combination products with more ingredients than they really need. Iodine's cold and flu app helps you narrow down your options to products that treat the symptoms you actually have, and shows you store brands and generics that cost less but work just as well."