PORTLAND, Ore. — For Oregonians, the return of cold and flu season can mean the return of the quest to figure out where — and how — to buy medication for cold and flu relief, due to the sometimes confusing combination of rules that govern the sale of some non-prescription drugs.
A KGW viewer recently wrote in asking us to VERIFY the rules in Oregon when it comes to checking customer IDs for cold medicine sales. Here's what they had to say:
Rite Aid requires to check my state ID when I purchase their generic cold medicine Multi-Symptom Cold & Flu Relief with phenylephrine and dextromethorphan. I was told this was a "government requirement" so I would not buy too much.
THE QUESTION
Are Oregon retailers required to check ID when customers purchase over-the-counter cold or flu medication with compounds like phenylephrine and dextromethorphan?
THE SOURCES
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Consumer Healthcare Products Association
- ORS 475.380
- Sudafed (McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary)
THE ANSWER
Yes, retailers in Oregon are required by federal or state law to check the IDs of all customers buying products containing pseudoephedrine, and any customers who appear to be under 25 and are buying product containing dextromethorphan. However, they are not required to check the ID of customers buying products that only contain phenylephrine.
WHAT WE FOUND
When it comes to ID verification rules for cold and flu medications, the laws apply to the underlying drugs rather than any specific brand name. Three of the most common examples of those kinds of drugs are:
- Pseudoephedrine, a nasal decongestant in products like Sudafed, Allegra-D and Mucinex-D
- Phenylephrine, a nasal decongestant in products like Sudafed-PE and DayQuil
- Dextromethorphan, a cough suppressant in products like Robitussin, Mucinex-DM and NyQuil
Several common cold or flu medications contain dextromethorphan in combination with one of the other two, which is why there's some overlap in the example product names. The other reason for the overlap is that phenylephrine is often used as a substitute ingredient for pseudoephedrine, such as in the PE formulation of Sudafed.
All three drugs are sold as over-the-counter products, meaning they usually don't require a prescription, but two of the three are subject to laws that always or often require businesses to check customer IDs.
Pseudoephedrine has the strictest ID requirement, due to the drug's potential to be used for illegal methamphetamine production. Under a federal law passed in 2006, products containing pseudoephedrine can only be sold to customers who show photo ID.
There are also limits to how much any one person can purchase per month, and businesses must record and store certain information about people who purchase the products. Pharmacy chain Rite Aid agreed to a $4.75 million settlement in 2020 stemming from allegations that it failed to properly document its pseudoephedrine sales.
Since they're set by federal law, the baseline ID rules for pseudoephedrine are the same in every state, although some states have introduced additional requirements — most notably Oregon and Mississippi, both of which reclassified the drug to be only available with a prescription. However, both states rolled back those rules in 2021, according to the Associated Press.
There are no federal restrictions on dextromethorphan sales, but Oregon is one of several states that have created their own rules due to its potential to be abused as a recreational drug. The Consumer Healthcare Products Association has pushed for those restrictions, citing abuse of the drug by teens. Oregon law prohibits the sale of products containing dextromethorphan to anyone under 18, and requires retailers to ask for an ID from any buyer who appears to be younger than 25.
Phenylephrine has no restrictions at the state or federal level, so businesses generally do not need to ask for ID for products like Sudafed PE that only contain phenylephrine, or products that contain a combination of phenylephrine and another unrestricted drug like ibuprofen.
However, if the product includes phenylephrine in combination with dextromethorphan, such as the generic cold and flu medicine described in the original question, then the Oregon dextromethorphan law would take precedence, requiring an ID check for anyone who appears to be under the age of 25. The law doesn't require businesses to ask for ID if a customer looks 25 or older, but much like with alcohol sales, the business could still choose to do so.
Got a question or a story about Portland or Oregon that you'd like us to VERIFY? Drop us a line at verify@kgw.com.
