Thursday, February 5, 2009

Say ByeBye To Your Inhaler- It Is No Longer Legal!

Did you know that CFC (chloroflurocarbon) inhalers are now prohibited from being made in the USA? This is a fast acting inhalers, such as ProAir, Ventolin, and Proventi. Pretty scary thought, isn't it? When I first heard it, I didn't believe it. How can they take the 7 most prescribed medicine in the country off the market? What are they thinking?

"They" are the Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee, and they are wanting to make things greener. A CFC inhaler is said to have the same effect on the ozone layer as aerosols such as hair spray and air freshener. Many, many years ago, medical inhalers were given a time period to switch over to greener methods when CFC bans were put into place. As of December 31, 2008, pharmaceutical company will no longer be making CFC inhalers. Pharmacies will still be allowed to sell the ones they have, however no more will be made.

What does this mean for asthmatics like my husband that use a fast acting inhaler all the time? A new type of inhaler, called an HFA (hydrofluoralkane) inhaler. A new prescription must be written by your doctor, since it is a brand new prescription, and not a generic or a substitute. Expect to pay more at the pharmacy for it- sometimes up to three times as much, particularly if you are used to purchasing a generic inhaler. The new HFA inhalers have a different feel and taste to them. Since the medication works differently (on the lungs instead of the throat), they also have a "sofer and warmer puff" to them. The new inhalers will need to be cleaned more frequently, since they have a tendency to clog.

Looks like we will be making a doctors appointment for Selo. Since I have an appt on Monday, I scheduled his at the same time. We'll be making the change now, so that we have enough time to find a new inhaler that works for him, before the old ones are completely gone.

~*~ Sources ~*~
CleanTechnica
American Lung Association
Planet Green
Achoo the Blog

3 comments:

Jade said...

I need to find out if this affects the one I buy OTC (no insurance). I actually got some of the newer ones before I lost my insurance-- they cost me the same, but they were smaller and I had way more mis-fires with them. It took a while before I felt like they were actually helping because I guess with the chemicals in the old ones, you could sort of feel it take hold and clear up, notsomuch with the new ones.

Heidi said...

Welcome to being greener. I like feeling like I am doing something good, but man it really does hit the wallet. And thanks for the info on the inhaler, not something I've heard.

Anonymous said...

Some folks are having some major problems with the new HFA inhalers.

Read the thousands of complaints:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/saveCFCinhalers/signatures.html

This particular petition has 4000 signatures and is growing everyday. There are also many complaints at consumer affairs:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/health/hfa_inhalers.html

More complaints:

https://www.savecfcinhalers.org/Guestbook.php

http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=20503&name=PROVENTIL-HFA

http://www.opednews.com/populum/diarypage.php?did=11627

If you are unhappy with the new HFA inhalers, kindly sign the petition to save CFC inhalers.

http://www.savecfcinhalers.org