Iodine Launches Cold and Flu App That Helps Smart Consumers Find the Best Over-The-Counter Options For Their Symptoms

New app simplifies over 300 cold and flu products into one easy medication finder

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Dec 17, 2014, 04:02 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Iodine, Inc., developer of health information website Iodine.com, has launched a new web app for cold and flu season.

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.

Iodine.com's new cold and flu app helps people find the right over-the-counter medicine options for their symptoms.

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!"

About Iodine

Iodine, Inc. is dedicated to giving individuals better, more actionable information about their healthcare choices - starting with medications. The company's online interactive tools enable individuals to drill into massive amounts of data from clinical research and real life experience to gain deeper insights into their choices about medications, both prescription and over-the-counter. Iodine's vision is to transform healthcare by giving people the capacity to match their needs to others' experiences, and to discern new patterns and insights by capturing the wealth of experience people have in their day-to-day lives. Iodine was founded in San Francisco in 2013 and launched Iodine.com in 2014. The company is staffed by a team of data scientists, designers, and healthcare experts. Iodine has been called "The Yelp of medicine" by TIME. More information is available at www.iodine.com.

Hi-res screenshots of the cold and flu app are available in our press kit: www.iodine.com/blog/press

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141217/165096

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SOURCE Iodine, Inc.