May 18, 2006 -- As Asthma Inhalers Are Phased Out, Shortages, Price Rises Expected

The leading prescription treatment to open constricted airways during an asthma attack will be phased out by the end of 2008, which is the federal government’s deadline for ending use of containing an ozone-depleting propellant gas currently found in almost all inhalers. The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alerted consumers in March that a transition to other drugs may cause spot shortages of inhalers, and consumers also report that prices of inhalers are rising as the result of the change, in which albuterol containing chlorofluocarbons (CFC) is being replaced with albuterol containing the more ozone-friendly propellant hydrofluoroalkane (HFC). CFCs are being phased out to comply with the Montreal Protocol, a global treaty to save the earth’s outer ozone layer. Any rise in the price of inhalers may affect especially families living below poverty level, in which asthma prevalence is high, but many asthma patient groups say they see the transition as an opportunity to move to drugs like inhaled steroids that can prevent attacks in the first place. For more information, go to http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/2005/ANS01349.html and http://www.fda.gov/cder/mdi/default.htm.