People who want to buy it have to ask a pharmacist, who decides if it is suitable for them before providing it.
Under the new proposal, small packets of the pill form, effectively one day’s worth, would be available for people to select themselves, alongside medicines such as Panadol and ibuprofen.
It would still only be sold in pharmacies.
Pseudoephedrine was made a prescription-only drug in 2011 because of its use in the manufacture of P.
But in 2024, it was reclassified to its current status after Act’s David Seymour pushed for the change on the back of an election campaign promise.
Reckitt’s application said the proposed change would give New Zealanders better access to an effective nasal decongestant and lessen the workload of stretched pharmacists.
Heavily restricting pseudoephedrine in 2011 did not effectively control the supply and use of meth in New Zealand, it said.
“The supply and manufacture of methamphetamine use in New Zealand has shifted from small-scale production, where pharmacy-sourced pseudoephedrine was the main precursor used,” it said.
Instead, there was “large-scale clandestine manufacture” with ingredients brought in from overseas or bulk importation of methamphetamine, the application said.
When pseudoephedrine was banned from shelves in 2011, many cold and flu remedies changed to the drug phenylephrine.
That was now the subject of a class action lawsuit after evidence it was ineffective.
Medsafe’s Medicines Classification Committee is set to discuss Reckitt’s application at its meeting next month.
The public can make submissions on the proposal until October 5.