As more Americans turn to self-medication for common ailments, it is not surprising that an increasing number of products are on the market to control or alleviate specific symptoms of cough, cold, and flu. But sales of the products included in this report, which stood at $658.2 million in 2003, have been relatively flat during the years 1998-2003, in part because these products are “single-symptom” solutions, as opposed to the “multi-symptom” products also available. Consumers now have the choice of one-stop cold or flu relief (by taking a product that contains a pain and fever reliever, decongestant, antihistamine, and cough suppressant all in one), or a suite of products for the individual symptoms, including the ones listed here. Many cold and flu sufferers prefer the convenience of the former.

The OTC cough and throat remedy industry is largely tied to the cold and flu period of the year, which usually runs from September through May. While an early flu season has the potential to translate to increased sales of OTC medications in the last quarter, it is not unusual for the flu season to taper off well before the end of the first quarter of the next year. Unless a flu season is both severe and long lasting, which has not been the case for the years included in this report, it is unlikely that sales will increase significantly.

This report examines the hypothesis that the cough and throat remedy market will see overall declines by 2008 of almost 13% at constant prices. As more consumers turn to multi-symptom products in an effort to treat their ailments in an “all in one” fashion and decrease their repertoire of medicines, many will look for remedies that will treat cough, cold, flu and allergy symptoms.