By Nidhi Subbaraman | Photography by Malcolm Jackson for The Wall Street Journal Oct. 20, 2023 12:23 pm ETWhen Leslie Hendeles walked into his neighborhood drugstore this week and learned that a common cold medicine was being pulled off the shelves, he was stunned. The news affirmed a decadeslong quest to steer consumers away from a drug that he long-believed didn’t work. Hendeles, a retired professor, with his friend, fellow pharmacist and University of Florida professor Randy Hatton, have spent nearly 20 years following the science of phenylephrine, an ingredient in more than 200 over-the-counter decongestants. Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8