P&G stops selling Vicks Action 500 Extra in India after ban

[March 15, 2016]  MUMBAI (Reuters) - 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.

(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in Mumbai; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier) 

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