In a long-sought move, the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday formally began the process of abandoning oral doses of a common over-the-counter decongestant, which the agency concluded last year is not effective at relieving stuffy noses.

The FDA would provide manufacturers with appropriate time to either reformulate drugs containing oral phenylephrine or remove such drugs from the market, it stated.

The US Food and Drug Administration announced a proposal to remove oral phenylephrine – a common ingredient in many popular over-the-counter decongestants – from the market, citing evidence that it doesn’t work.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has determined commonly used oral phenylephrine is "not effective" and has proposed its removal from over-the-counter nasal decongestants.

An exhaustive review of the data by FDA experts finds the drug to be largely useless against congestion, however