Posted on 12/29/2007 10:02:50 AM PST by grundle
This is the problem with the politicians, and especially those who are so worried about the environment: They forget what and who is important -- people. The reason I say this is because of what has happened with prescription inhalers used for asthma treatment.
I recently needed to refill my inhaler and was told by the local pharmacist that the inhaler was now different because it contained ingredients that harmed the ozone layer. However, these ingredients were the most effective for helping calm down an asthma attack.
I was also informed by the pharmacy that since the medication was altered, it was not covered by my prescription coverage because it is now considered a new medication.
To make a long story short, I had a minor asthma attack and this new, altered inhaler did almost nothing to help. I then went to the emergency room and needed to receive a couple of breathing treatments to settle down my breathing. I then informed the ER doctor what inhaler I used and he actually began to laugh, saying, "It's crazy that the medication would be altered like this. Don't they know how many millions of people rely on inhalers for asthma relief?"
I was diagnosed as asthmatic when I was about 7 or 8 years old and have needed to use inhalers every day since. I ask you this: What happens to the elderly who rely on inhalers also and who are on fixed incomes? Will they receive the same rude awakening when they are advised that these asthmatic medications are now not covered by insurance because they supposedly harm the ozone layer?
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
Why should it? It's an ill-informed rant, not an "article" in the information-passing sense of the term.
LOL. You can't order hydrocodone. It's a controlled substance. But you can order an asthma inhaler, an antibiotic, blood pressure medication, prescription eye drops etc... and you may be shocked at how large some of the price differences are.
*growls*
This doesn’t surprise me one bit. I’ve personally had enviro-whackos tell me that they would support everything from violating the Constitution to outright genocide if it ‘ensured their future’.
And of course, for being against these fascist tactics, I’m accused of hating the environment (I do care about the earth...I’m just not going to shut my brain down and throw caution to the wind protecting it), I don’t care about my childrens’ future (assuming I have children with freaks like them running around), etc etc etc.
It’s times like these I wish time travel was possible. I’d like to go back in time and give that woman (what’s her name) who wrote that story or paper about the effects of DDT a piece of my mind. She was the beginning of the “save the environment at all costs” movement.
This whole ozone layer thing is BullSquat. They didn’t even know of its existence until technology became sophisticated enough to detect and measure it. Then socialist environmentalists arbitrarily started to make up theories about it. As for CFCs, the aledged culprit that they espouse, if you look at an analysis of the CFCs spewed out in a typical volcano such as Mount St. Helens, the quantities makes man-made CFCs a dwarf contribution by comparison. This is like man-made global warming. Anyone believing than man could even begin to create this stuff in the quantities that nature does is a complete idiot.
It’s all just more Junk-Science.
Agreed. I have to remember it because I have to buy Freon occasionally, IF I can find it.
Exactly. To the eco-nuts, the only illegitimate species on this planet is Homo sapiens.
Read it again closer. His insurance company is who made the claim. They did it so the drug list formulary would be changed making it a new medication thus saving them a bundle. If you read it closely it makes sense. The propellant ingredients as well as the medication is what actually made it effective thus it is altered. Changing the ingredients including the propellant changed the medication. The propellant is as much a part of the treatment as the chemicals it delivers. That is how they work. If you don't get a good delivery it's useless.
The problem with the ban on CFCs is that socialist environmentalists were able to railroad the bans through before the era of blog chat rooms like Free Republic. They took advantage of the fact that there wasn’t an organized resistance to the dogma of alarmism that was being spread by the environmental movement. If the ozone layer had been discovered one year ago and they tried this propaganda campaign, it wouldn’t work. Its harder to badger the real scientists now than it was 10 or 15 years ago.
Is the problem that the product is no longer an aerosol, or is the problem that it is an aerosol but lacks CFC?
I’m relieved about the hydrocodone, lol. Thanks for the link — I’ve bookmarked it. Besides checking out FR, the reason I sat down at the computer this afternoon was to order pet meds. I’ll try your link first next time. I use Retin A and the price difference looks significant even with my copay. I also use Restasis (eyedrops) so will check that out too.
“Environmentalist extremists dont care. Consider how many people have died because of the DDT ban.”
Good response.
The environmentalists and the politicians they OWN do NOT believe that people are important. The planet and its animal inhabitants all come before worthless humans. Soon the politicians will figure out a way to have the animals registered and their "advocates" able to vote for them if the illegals don't pan out.
This is so true. I complained to my doctor and pharmacist about the new inhalers, saying they didn’t work nearly so well as the previous ones. They agreed with me and said that in default of satisfactory bronchodilators, providers were turning more and more to using nebulizers and inhaled or oral steroids than had been the case in the past twenty-five or so years. We have taken several steps back in the care of asthma patients, and some patients are going to pay with their lives.
Yet what, really, is the benefit to the environment if a few asthma patients allow a few sprays of this dispensing medium into the atmosphere? The idea that the tiny amount in one actualization of a lung spray could actually harm the environment or contribute to global warming is absurd.
I didn’t know there had been a chance. Is it the medical formulation that is junk, or only the inhaler?
My 2 year old has asthma.
It used to be that public health and safety came first. This is no longer the case. Consider the millions of acres of unmanaged forest and dangerous fuel build up near communities. Even when local government declares it a hazard and a public nuisance and orders abatement, the environmentalist simply appeal, vetoing any effort to reduce the hazard.
It really is the smae thing as asthma inhalers. Regulations used to be limited to the prevention of substantial injury to public health and safety. Now, they not only run to further public policy to promote actions favoring animals and plants and to reduce an imagined miniscule contribution to global warming, they subordinate the original intent and justification of regulations with individual freedom falling to the side.
“Ping!”
For pet meds I sometimes use a place in Australia. Never had a problem with them, they are reputable.
Best price I could find on the Frontline Plus.
This may sound strange......but have you tried caffeine?
A medical doctor told my friend that caffeine has a molecule that is almost identical to that of medications found in asthama inhalers.
Doctor says caffeine is a lung inflater (serves the same purpose as inhalers).
My friend who used an inhaler 1-2 a day now takes sips of caffinated coffee at the onset of an attack, and no longer needs an inhaler.
The caffeine must be brewed coffee-—instant does not work.
Might be a good idea to check with your doctor before proceeding-—although there are no known cures for asthama. If you find a treatment that works-—great.
Another way to help the condition is to amp up your Omega 3’s. Usually found in salmon, but many asthmatics cannot eat seafood. You can buy flaxseed oil or flaxseed meal that is easily added to foods (it has no flavor-—and about 2000 mg of Omega 3).
Geez, maybe that’s what NAIS is really all about (and I’m hoping I’m being sarcastic)
Thanks Liz. My inhaler use is limited - I don’t have asthma per se, but my girls and I have inhalers that we use on occasion. I am a recent convert to coffee (what have I been missing all these years?) and have found that my breathing is actually better. I never made the connection.
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