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Vicks Action 500 Extra: P&G Stops Sales Of The Cough-And-Cold Medicine In India

Cough Luck! You Can No Longer Buy Vicks Action 500 Extra
TO GO WITH India-economy-consumers-forex-education by Penelope MacraeIndian consumers select hair clips at a store in Hyderabad on August 26, 2013. With the currency hovering at record lows of nearly 69 rupees to the dollar and seen heading south, the estimated 300-million-strong middle-class are being forced to rethink many of their plans.Since the start of the year, the rupee has lost around a fifth of its value against the dollar and the prices of life's little luxuries on which India's middle class have come to depend -- from imported appliances to smart phones, cheeses, wines, hair products and olive oil -- are set to climb. AFP PHOTO / Noah SEELAM (Photo credit should read NOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images)
NOAH SEELAM via Getty Images
TO GO WITH India-economy-consumers-forex-education by Penelope MacraeIndian consumers select hair clips at a store in Hyderabad on August 26, 2013. With the currency hovering at record lows of nearly 69 rupees to the dollar and seen heading south, the estimated 300-million-strong middle-class are being forced to rethink many of their plans.Since the start of the year, the rupee has lost around a fifth of its value against the dollar and the prices of life's little luxuries on which India's middle class have come to depend -- from imported appliances to smart phones, cheeses, wines, hair products and olive oil -- are set to climb. AFP PHOTO / Noah SEELAM (Photo credit should read NOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images)

MUMBAI -- U.S. consumer health giant Procter & Gamble's India unit said on Tuesday it had stopped manufacture and sale of its cough-and-cold medicine Vicks Action 500 Extra with immediate effect, after regulators banned it citing potential health risk.

The product is a fixed dose combination of paracetamol, phenylephrine and caffeine, which was banned by India's health ministry in a notice issued over the weekend, Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd informed the stock exchange.

The drug was one of 344 drug combinations including several antibiotics and analgesics that India ordered to be prohibited saying a government-appointed panel of experts had found the combinations lacked "therapeutic justification."

P&G said all its products, including Vicks Action 500 Extra, were backed by research to support their quality, safety and efficacy.

It wasn't immediately clear how much the product contributed to P&G's sales.

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