The new app, at www.iodine.com/cold-and-flu, helps people sift through the 300+ options in the cold and flu aisle to find and compare medications that treat their own combination of symptoms. Notably, Iodine’s cold and flu app is the first of its kind.
Why Iodine built the cold and flu app:
- Choosing between cold medicines is confusing: Drugstores offer over 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.
- People spend too much on brand names: People spend an extra $44B a year on brand-name products in drugstores, including over-the-counter medications and other health items (National Bureau of Economic Research). Pharmacists are 90% more likely to buy generics.
- People are taking more medicine than they need: 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 drugstore.
"We built our cold and flu app because we think consumers are overwhelmed by options and marketing in the cold and flu aisle," said Amanda Angelotti, MD, 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."
Mary, a 69 year-old woman in the Pacific Northwest who uses Iodine, said the following about the cold and flu app: "My husband now has a cold, and the Iodine app confirmed that the product he had chosen was a correct one! The reinforcement was wonderful!"