Asthma's New Expense

• By mandersrt
• Posted August 20, 2007 at 11:39 pm
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I understand the issue of those on fixed incomes who can’t afford the new albuterol inhaler however, this issue has been in the works for many years. I don't like how this article uses Pres. Bush's name implying he is the cause. It clearly states that CFCs have been largely banned under the 1987 Montreal Protocol. Each year more and more CFC products are being changed or eliminated.

Pharmaceutical companies have been trying to work around the new regulations for years. That's why many new medications like Sprivia, Advair, Symbicort and Servenet are all dry powder inhalers. They don't need a propellant to deliver the medication.

This is not new information. This information has been out there for years. Many who were aware of the change took the opportunity to re-evaluate their asthma plans and were able to change medications or completely get off albuterol all together. By the way the National institute of Health Research states if you use an albuterol inhaler more than twice per week, your asthma is not in control. They also believe the best treatment for asthma is to learn your triggers and avoid them. This doesn't take any medications at all. You will still need a rescue inhaler but if you only use it once a week or less, it should last a long time.

If you need albuterol and can’t afford the new inhaler, then ask your doctor to change your prescription to the nebilizer solution or the albuterol pill. You may even want to try a different medication all together. There are other choices out there.

I am a Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT), Certified Asthma Educator (AE-C) and Certified Pulmonary Function Technician (CPFT).

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• By Jaleyn
• Posted August 22, 2007 at 9:20 am
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Medications are way to expensive... the meds I take for asthma at this time are sinqulair, zyrtec advair inhaler and also a provential HFA inhaler ...and I also use albuteral neb solution most don't have generics and so cost 35-to 60 each, each month... There are times that I wonder if I am worth it... My husband says yes thank God but something definately needs to be done... We do have insurance, I can imagine how a person without insurance can survive. I work with folks with alzheimer's disease and those meds are very expensive too... The drug companies are getting rich while good people suffer... Dosen't seem quite right to me...

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• By stay_well
• Posted August 22, 2007 at 3:43 pm
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Is your asthma triggered by allergic reactions? I have a son who was dianosed with asthma at an early age, but has never had any attacks since we have his histamine regulated naturally.

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• By Jaleyn
• Posted August 23, 2007 at 1:39 pm
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Yes my asthma is triggered by allergies. I try to stay away from the things that cause problems. Please tell me how you regulate your son's histamine level naturally. I would appreciate knowing how to do that. I have 3 sons all grown 29, 27 and 18. Two of the boys had it as children and seem to have "grown out" of it. I would appreciate any info you could share thanks take care, J

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• By stay_well
• Posted August 23, 2007 at 2:44 pm
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I also have 3 sons 22, 18, and 15. the 18 year old has the allergies to his environment and we all use OPC-3, or oligomeric proanthocyanidins. I can send you the research studies on it,if you are interested. I have not used this site much so I don't know if I can send an attachment. Are you familiar with Dr. Steven Lamb, an internist at NYU school of medicine, who has been on THE VIEW with this product? The product is amazing, as is the company. Let me know if you would like more info.

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• By michellewest1961
• Posted August 23, 2007 at 3:23 pm
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Good afternoon:

My name is Michelle and I saw your message about you having Asthma. I bought a book yesterday entitled " Is it harmful, Is it healty".......I came across a section on acupuncture........and acupuncture may help such thing's as Postoperative pain, especially after dental surgery. Headache's. especially migraines, neck and lower-back pain, general chronic pain, athritis pain, Asthma and bronchitis. So it sound's like it may be worth looking into. My Grandmother swore by it........I have fibromyalgia and lower back pain so I'm thinking of giving it a try.........It can't hurt right. Well I just thought I 'd share this with you.
Have a good day
Michelle

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• By Asthmatic
• Posted August 23, 2007 at 6:52 pm
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Marianne,
Your article is very informative and thank you for writing about this issue. But what you really need to focus on is the fact that the HFA inhalers are absolute JUNK, and albuterol cfc works extremely well and immediately when having an asthma attack.

They need to return the lifesaving medical grade albuterol CFC inhalers to asthmatics. There is absolutely No adequate replacement for it. Listen to the people in the petition at:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/300594068

We are scared and many believe they will die without their Albuterol cfc asthma inhaler (Warrick Brand), myself included. And many have even resigned themselves to die. That is how dependent we are on the albuterol cfc asthma inhaler. The propellent shoots the mist deep into the lungs and opens up the airways instantly.

The new HFA inhalers would not save a life in a sudden asthma attack. The mist from the ProAir HFA inhaler from IVAX Labs trickled into my mouth and did not open my airways and didn't even help my asthma. There are also other terrible side effects like stinging the throat and coughing your guts out after. There should be a recall on that product.

They should not have been allowed to take our medicine away from us, this is insane. Read the entire petition, (and look at blogs and forums online) thousands of asthmatics are panicking, I am not the only one!

The Albuterol cfc asthma inhaler was removed without even considering the outcome of the patient. This is quite evident from the massive negative response online. Also the response of asthmatics was immediate. They didn't wait a few months or years to realize that the new medicine doesn't work, and then complain - the response to losing their cfc albuterol has been instantaneous and overwhelming.

They've given us this awful medicine that is causing 1000's of asthmatic adults and children to suffer with no relief in an asthma attack, right now as I write this letter. Children are suffering because of this! And it seems like no one cares. I've had asthma for over 30 years and it was horrifying as a child.

When I wake up in the night with sudden asthma, or while hiking if I get hit with asthma, I grope fast for my cfc albuterol inhaler, and I always know where it is, I would never go anywhere without it. The albuterol cfc inhaler is our lifesaving rescue inhaler that restores breathing immediately, there is no other rescue asthma inhaler available.

This is no different than taking a lifesaving heart medicine away from a heart patient who depends on it to stay alive!

Someone has made a stupid foolish and dangerous mistake taking this medicine away from asthma patients. It seems like the FDA, and Heart and Lung Association is not on our side. I received a letter from the Lung Assoc. stating that I should try the other asthma medicines available, pills and steroid medicines like advair, and use a spacer to provide more efficiency
for my new inhaler. Well I can tell you, I've tried them all, and they are not rescue inhalers.

Asthmatics must have access to a rescue inhaler!

The only Lifesaving Rescue Inhaler is the cfc albuterol asthma inhaler. The Montreal Protocol, Food and Drug Administration, State Department, World Health Organization, President of the United States need to amend this decision and make medical grade CFC Albuterol available to asthmatics.


Many people don't realize that asthma can come on suddenly, hard and fast without pre-warning. That's why so many people on the petition and myself believe we will die without our inhaler. No one seems to understand what we are experiencing.

Please help us to get our medicine back. It's not about the money, we are begging to get our rescue cfc albuterol inhaler back.

Also, everyone should email, write and telephone their congressmen and US Senators. You can find their addresses here:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

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• By Jaleyn
• Posted August 23, 2007 at 11:37 pm
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Hi I too have had asthma since I was a child... it does seem to get worse as I get older.. I was not aware of this until recently, but my children all grown are afraid that I will die. It is frightening to not be able to breath... I had pneumonia and pleurisy as a child also and it damaged my lungs. My middle son was born premature, 37 wks because I was not breathing well and went into labor. He is now 27 and is VERY intelligent, is actually pre-med... I think that people at the drug companies and the FDA, need to leave well enough alone. I can't go anywhere without my inhaler... I tried to go to Wal-mart today and came home gasping...

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• By cbDayton
• Posted September 4, 2007 at 8:25 am
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As an MD with asthma, I have tried various remedies for my chronic and acute asthma episodes.

The best "alternative" combination that works for both acute and chronic asthma for me is:

pycnogenol + quercetin

They have anti-inflammatory and anti-bronchospasm mediator activities.

For pycnogenol the following randomized trial is pertinent:

Pycnogentol Randomized Trial:
J Asthma. 2004;41(8):825-32

Pycnogenol as an adjunct in the management of childhood asthma.

Lau BH, Riesen SK, Truong KP, Lau EW, Rohdewald P, Barreta RA.

Division of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California 92350, USA. bLau@som.llu.edu

A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study involving 60 subjects, aged 6-18 years old, was conducted over a period of 3 months to determine the effect of Pycnogenol (a proprietary mixture of water-soluble bioflavonoids extracted from French maritime pine) on mild-to-moderate asthma. After baseline evaluation, subjects were randomized into two groups to receive either Pycnogenol or placebo. Subjects were instructed to record their peak expiratory flow with an Assess Peak Flow Meter each evening. At the same time, symptoms, daily use of rescue inhalers (albuterol), and any changes in oral medications were also recorded. Urine samples were obtained from the subjects at the end of the run-in period, and at 1-, 2-, and 3-month visits. Urinary leukotriene C4/D4/E4 was measured by an enzyme immunoassay. Compared with subjects taking placebo, the group who took Pycnogenol had significantly more improvement in pulmonary functions and asthma symptoms. The Pycnogenol group was able to reduce or discontinue their use of rescue inhalers more often than the placebo group. There was also a significant reduction of urinary leukotrienes in the Pycnogenol group. The results of this study demonstrate the efficacy of Pycnogenol as an adjunct in the management of mild-to-moderate childhood asthma.

As far as I am aware, quercetin has not been evaluated in a randomized controlled trial but if one puts "quercetin" in pubmed one comes up with over 5000 references documenting its chemical potential to be anti-inflammatory and various individuals have proposed doing a randomized control trial for quercetin and allergic sinusitis. It is interesting that in a letter to the British Medical Journal in Jan 2006, an Italian scientist argues that quercetin could have properties that make it a better agent for the treatment of Bird Flu (that has a "cytokine storm" inflammatory mediator as its mechanism for causing death).

pycnogenol has some anti-thrombotic properties that could theoretically potentiate its side effects. The Natural Medicine Database (subscribed to by the VA Hospital System) notes that there is the theoretical side effect of potentiating autoimmune disease in women by pycnogenol. So, there is the theoretical contraindication of SLE and similar disorders for pycnogenol.

quercetin is a flavinoid from red wine. It should not be combined with Monoamine Oxidase inhibitors because of the risk of increased blood pressure with the combination.

A very adequate supply of both pycnogenol and quercetin can be obtained at a reasonable cost from www.iherb.com.

I have absolutely no financial interest in the above.

I do believe we overlook agents such as these because of there "alternative medicine" origin and no drug company (other than the one that patented pycnogenol) can claim a monopoly .

This kind of advice should, pro forma, be checked out with one's personal physician who has probably never heard of either pycnogenol and quercetin.

One way to assess efficacy is to look at stuffy nose symptomatology, especially if it happens overnight. That is likely due to some of the same kind of inflammatory mediators as mediates asthma. If one gets significant relief of symptoms in 3 days of the stuffy nose symptoms while taking these agents QHS (at bedtime) then one will likely, in my opinion, benefit by taking these agents for asthma. AND, if one benefits by taking them for stuffy nose symptoms then it is likely, in my opinion, that these agents (plus others) could be very efficacious for the acute treament of Bird Flu influenza (see cytokine storm above and December 7, 2002 issue of The Lancet medical journal and comment by Hong Kong physicians about the pathology of H5N1 influenza).

We should be sponsoring randomized controlled trials of pycnogenol and quercetin - again, I have no dog in that hunt but very much would like that hunt to be pursued by multiple groups for multiple reasons above and otherwise.

Charles Beauchamp MD, PhD

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• By NOHFA
• Posted September 21, 2007 at 4:38 am
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I have made a myspace on NOHFA www.myspace.com/nohfa and am exploring making a complete website for this cause. This medication is dangerous and doesn't work on me nor family members with Asthma. I'd be more than willing to discuss any aspects of the effects of this medication with you. Because of this medication countless Asthmatics will die to FDA type I errors. Many consumers are going to Canadian pharmacies. My Asthma specialist recently discontinued my prescription for CFC inhalers and wants me to retry HFA inhalers and I will be changing doctors due to this. I am terrified more for the seniors and children who really are more vulnerable to this medication and it's effects. Ethanol is in HFA so in light we are inhaling alcohol into our lungs. I thank you for writing an article and exploring the subject more as this will be a huge news story as more and more Asthmatics face shortages of their rescue inhalers and will become victims of HFA having to use this ineffective dangerous drug in an attempt to survive.

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• By yoop
• Posted October 11, 2007 at 12:11 am
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There is a NEW PETITION and National Campaign to Save CFC Medical Inhalers. Please sign it to let your voice be heard! The petition is located at the following link along with additional information.

http://tinyurl.com/yphmp4

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• By dbell1998
• Posted October 22, 2007 at 12:24 am
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I had been a statistician at a Med school and at a grad school of public health until migrating more into research programmer analyst work. However, I did manage to research over 10 years of California statewide hospital data, and asthma hospitalizations have consistently ranked in the top 5 of AVOIDABLE hospitalizations. This is for millions of hospitalizations by the way. So messing with the asthma sufferers does have a hefty pricetag. Having looked at the stats first hand, I can say that I am not a newbie in looking at asthma a a serious public health issue.

Asthma, for me, also has a personal aspect as my wife has had chronic asthma most of her life.

So when I questioned my pharmacist as to how an asthmatic struggling for breath while desperately puffing on a cfc inhaler somehow outweighs the diesel truck spewing tons of pollutants and the tons of pollutants being spewed out from autos and gasoline refineries, etc., the pharmacist responded: "well this will save the ozone... that's important..." Are you kidding me?? This response was sooo stupid just in terms of face validity. It was almost the hypnotic response that the brainwashed soldiers in the Manchurian Candidate parroted. I was expecting the next words from the pharmacist to be: "And Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life ..."

The fact that this is not even up for discussion as to the effectiveness of removing CFCs from inhalers. That any discussion is dismissed. This sounds like politicopharmacy to me. The fact that big Pharma stands to make a bundle on the backs of asthmatics really sounds like some serious graft is going on. Okay what politicians got paid off?

The fact that neither the health care providers, nor politicians, nor some pharmacists even, care about killing asthmatics for money for a really lame reason is criminal. And asserting that asthma inhalers without cfcs will save the planet, is a patently ludicrous sick cynical joke with a big price tag and health cost for patients. And big Pharma is laughing all the way to the bank.

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• By lizzielee
• Posted February 8, 2008 at 12:03 pm
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I appreciate your comments as a RRT, AE-C and CPFT. Now my comments are as an A-S-T-H-M-A-T-I-C and a severe one.

You probably know that there is no asthma but asthmatic people. Each asthma is different, could be triggered by different reasons, and medicines that are good for some may not be good for others. I have has this condition for 49 years. I have always been using the new medicines in the market. I have been used as a guinea pig for new medicines (regularly out of England, as it takes too long for the FDA to approve them). I have been in new treatments proposed by asthma clinics. I have used Salbutamol (Albuterol) for the last 38 years. Yes, I started its use when I was 13 and it was marketed in UK in 1969.

For the last 25 years I have been under good control, but still cannot avoid entering in crisis from time to time. I lived for 5 years in a desertic zone and for the first time in my life I knew what was to live w/o medicines. Unfortunately, job reasons put me back where my asthma trigger is. I currently must use Advair, Beconase, and Albuterol. I have used many of the "environment friendly" alternatives and none have worked for me. I know my asthma extremely well, and nobody can tell me that there are other choices out there. For me, right now, there aren't. Not to get the relieve that Albuterol provides me.

For me is not a matter of money, is a matter of life. I have been so close to asphyxia and let me tell you, it is not pretty.

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• By Jaleyn
• Posted February 9, 2008 at 9:33 am
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Hi I am with you Lizzilee... I have been asthmatic since I was a child... as a young woman teens and early 20's I did not take meds regularly but oh boy.... now I do!!! Have you done the allergy shot thing??? The last allergy asthma Doc I saw would not give me allergy shots he said my lungs were too bad... My sister who is 56 recently had a heart attack... I think all the asthma meds had something to do with it. My Mom says well don't take 'em. That is easy for her to say I have been close to anaphylaxiss twice and it is as you say NOT pretty.!!! Do you take sinqulair??? It really really helps me... take care J

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• By sherryk
• Posted December 8, 2008 at 4:26 pm
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I have asthma for as long as I can remember. When the new (rescue inhalers ) came out and we were told we had no choice but to use them I was horrified. They do not work and cannot be called rescue. I saw you wrote a small piece on this story and wonder if you can do anything else about it. I have gathered my information and I am now looking for a lawyer who can try to take on the drug companys and see why they really stopped helping us. I am gathering names and much information and I hope that maybe one person can make a difference.Its tiring to read how many people can complain and not do anything about this. I have posted my thoughts and received many e-mails from people who are suffering like myself. I see that you also have asthma and you are a senior writer for U.S. News and World Report. Perhaps you can do your part and help me expose what is really going on. Do you know that there is a small amount of enthinol in the inhaler?But the FDA said its just a small amount and cannot hurt anyone. That small amount adds up especially when you take more of the medication a day hoping that this time when you spay it will work. People are in trouble some will die. We live in America yet we are told when we can and cannot breath. I plan to go ahead with my plans for finding out why and if you can give me some kind of help it would be appreciated. Thank you. Katzsea@aol.com

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