This fellow is nuts. The changes were made to replace the CFC propellant, not the medication itself. I’m not all that happy about it myself, but this story is inaccurate.
The propellant helped push the medication deeper into the lungs. Now with these new inhalers, it hardly comes out and you have to really inhale it in. If you’re in the middle of an asthma attack, that could be difficult.
(a) There is less pressure.
(b) It feels more powdery going down.
The last thing you want when you’re having an asthma attack is to blow powder down your throat.
No worries, I’m picking up a CFC prescription every time I leave the state so I’m well stocked,
The mole weight of the compound went from ~280 to ~480mg, and the propellant is not as forceful. Additionally, because of the 'new' formulation, it is again a proprietary formulation, so there are no substitutions available. Albuterol with CFC retailed at under $20; ProAir©HFA goes over $40.
The propellant or means of delivery can be just as critical as the medication in getting it into the persons airway efficiently and quickly. An example is a sinus allergy spray called Nasocort I think was the name. In a propellant spray mist delivery it worked almost instantly. The EPA and Lords of Stupidity however decided that it needed to be in the form of a typical squeeze bottle delivery {liquid} fer da environment of course. What once worked well became useless. Having the majority of it go down my throat rather than in a mist form absorbed by the membranes in my nasal passages made it a futile act and waste of money. Sinus allergy attacks can be very similar in nature to Asthma attacks. Getting instant relief should be the top priority.
I can vouch that the “new & improved” inhalors aren’t worth a damn. Whoever required this change should have to use them for the rest of their life, and let’s just see how they like it! The new propellant doesn’t do the job, and, in fact, is defective from the “git-go”. Don’t tell me the guy is nuts, as I have to tell you unless you use them too, he is spot on. You should promptly apologize for your snide comment. We don’t need that kind of crap on FR.
Yes, but the change in the propellant has increased the cost of the inhaler. My son was using an albuterol inhaler, which was a generic medication. Our co-payment on that was $10. When the new inhalers came out, he was prescribed Proventil HFA, which was a non-formulary drug with a $30 co-pay. What was worse was that while the albuterol inhaler had 30 days of medication in it, the new inhaler only had 20 days’. After complaining to the doctor’s office, I was able to get his doctor to prescribe a Xopenex HFA inhaler, which is a formulary drug with a $20 copay and a 30 day supply. This medication seems to be as effective as the albuterol but it is costing us twice as much.
The federal government has no business telling drug companies what kind of propellants should be used in asthma inhalers. I don’t care what effect the old propellant supposedly had on the environment, this kind of government meddling is a worse form of pollution.