I am under the care of one of the premier asthma specialist in the US. He is at Penn and he is one super doctor. He has been petitioning the FDA for 2 years to go back to the old albuterol propellant as he thinks that HFA is an irritant to the airway. Unfortunately almost all the inhalers are HFA driven. I am pretty sure Ventolin is as well. I use the Proventil inhaler and also take Symbicort which is a inhaled steroid with a long term beta-2 agonist similar to Advair. That too is HFA propelled. One way around the HFA is to use an auxilary chamber attached to the inhaler. It is kind of a bong type device by it does work. Unfortunately it is not pocket sized.
But If you all think HFA inhalers are expensive you should check out the cost of the immunotherapeutic I am now on. Every 2 weeks I have to have 3 injections of Xolair (omalizumab) which is a IgG blocking monoclonal antibody. I have just started this but I am told it works wonders. Some patients throw their inhalers away altogether. But each injection costs $1500 so for me thats $4500 every 2 weeks!!!! Thank God I have a good prescription plan! I just hope it works. I will know in a month... Severe asthma at the age 53 sucks...