Over-the-counter inhalers to be banned

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

". . . as part of the federal government's latest attempt to protect the Earth's atmosphere."

I wonder if the Feds have finally overreached themselves. I can see a lot of people being unhappy with this. Got the news from a Facebook friend who's usually resolutely nonpartisan, and even she was sputtering a bit.

Comments

[patriot-jackie.livejournal.com]

You know, I'll never forget the time I brought up this issue on a political forum a couple years back. I asked liberals and envriomentalists point blank whether I should die of my attack or if I should use the inhaler and save myself at the cost of releasing a few CFCs.

The overwhelming majority said I should let myself die.

This wasn't some radical website, either. In fact, it's the most balanced site (in terms of political diversity) that I've found in my 7 years of forum debating.

After that discussion, this actually does not surprise me on bit. - Well, except for the surprise that I'll be able to keep my prescriptions.

I certainly hope people who are without insurance, whether they choose to be, can't afford it or are among the rare unemployed, have plenty of savings to see a doctor for the prescription and a whole lot of savings for the actual inhaler. One of mine would be $165 even with a discount if I didn't have insurance.

My guess is that asthma related deaths will increase from this, but not immediately. The really sick thing about it is that a good percentage of asthmatics are children. "Little Billy, it's time for you to save the world. Be strong: your sacrifice is worth it. You are expendable and we must save the planet! Now let me grab my private jet, so I can continue this crusade 2 hours south of here."

These people have no idea what it's like when your body turns against you, when you fight for each stinging breath and feel your windpipe closing up. Remaining calm is a cinch. It's a blast, I assure you. The whole idea of inhalers is superfluous, really. That's what the ER is for.

I wonder... How much money stands to be made by pharmaceuticals and their political investors?

[zansa-san.livejournal.com]

When they banned CFCs back whenever, my mother was praying the parents of the first kid who dropped dead from an asthma attack sued the ever-living pants off of the FDA and every environmental group that lobbied to get the ban passed.

But you know what it is? It's not something that effects them personally, therefore it's no big deal - I can't see it, it can't see me. You know who else has this world view/mind set? Four year olds.

(My brother is in the same boat as you - he's got incredibly bad asthma, and so does my cousin. She gets pneumonia every year and almost always ends up in the hospital, because of asthma complications.)

[rivetspoon.livejournal.com]

my mother was praying the parents of the first kid who dropped dead from an asthma attack sued the ever-living pants off of the FDA and every environmental group that lobbied to get the ban passed.

I would totally contribute such a cause. This is beyond ridoculous.

[mosinging1986.livejournal.com]

The overwhelming majority said I should let myself die.

You know what surprises me about this? It's not that they were thinking such a thing. It's that they were honest about it.

I wonder how these lunatics would feel if it was their own child dying in front of their eyes, all because of their fantasy idea that banning inhalers saves the environment.

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

Your story reminds me of this story:

http://www.conversiondiary.com/2011/09/against-the-our-father-word-by-word.html

There are some scary ways of thinking out there.

[moony-blues.livejournal.com]

But, you know, now that we have ~*Health Care Reform*~, no one will be uninsured, so those poor little kids and other asthmatics who rely on those OTC inhalers won't have to worry about it!

*FUMEZ!!!!!!*

Ok, now that I'm not channeling my inner-Glenn Beck, wtf is this nonsense? The earth has been here a lot longer than the Feds. And, considering that we're still pretty much guessing about how all the intricacies of the global ecosystem works, I'm pretty sure it'll be here long after the Feds are gone. I mean, the earth's recovered from asteroid impacts that cause global extinction events. And these morons still insist that we can permanently damage it. If I didn't know all of the power and greed running the show behind the scenes, I'd almost wonder why there are people who still honestly believe this shit. Because that's what it is: a big, steaming pile of stinky horse shit.

[mosinging1986.livejournal.com]

!!!

People are going to die because of this! But as long as it makes them feel better about themselves because they are "saving the environment", who cares about real people, right?

How these morons infuriate me.

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

This is the danger of letting unelected bureaucrats create law with unlimited power. This was never intended by the Constitution. Now the FDA has become a Death Panel. This will force patients to either spend a lot more money on the prescription stuff (or it will cost insurance/employers more) or use the "earth friendly" stuff that will undoubtedly not be as effective, and somebody will end up dead because of it. Not that it matters because the bureaucrats are taken care of.

[coldblossom.livejournal.com]

Its not like people need to breathe, anyway. And anytime something like this comes up, this "commercial" comes to mind:

[neemarita.livejournal.com]

As someone who takes albuterol inhalers and cannot take anything else for my lung disease, oy. I've heard this crap before from my old doctor who just wanted me on Advair because he had a deal with the company. Left the guy because he wouldn't prescribe me what I needed.

I'm not surprised about the "you should let yourself die" mentality. Same as people who are gung-ho about abortion who said I'd be better off dead because my mother had a very tough pregnancy and almost died.

BUT THE ENVIRONMENT IS MORE IMPORTAAAANT!!!! .. ugh.

[fi-harkness.livejournal.com]

It's stuff like this that makes me wanna go outside and kick a tree.

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

Nicely put.

[jacobs-muse.livejournal.com]

I didn't know there were OTC inhalers still in production. I always needed a prescription for albuterol inhalers, and they outlawed that one brand of non-prescription inhaler because it caused too many deaths.

They already changed the formula of albuterol inhalers for "green" reasons to the detriment of a lot of patients. What else is there?

They did that back in 2009:
[The propellant they use in the new "green" inhalers is ethanol. Yes, the same stuff they add to gasoline. And yes, the same that has been documented for over 80 years to cause breathing problems in people who do NOT have asthma, let alone those who do. It's no wonder the stupid inhalers aren't working as well...the body is fighting off the initial asthma attack as well as the crap in the med and the albuterol simply can't cope.

The reason for all this is the idiot politicians signed the Montreal eco treaty back in 1989 to reduce CFCs. The drug companies took that as an invitation to make more money on drugs because the albuterol USP was generic and only cost $10. The new ProAir HFA is $30.

The only company still making inhalers that are effective, and WITHOUT sulfates in them is Graceway. Graceway Pharmaceuticals had NO intention of switching to HFA. They are fighting the FDA committee trying to force them to...they took LOTS of documented cases of adverse reactions of the HFA inhalers not working, or of allergic reactions to them.

Graceway knows they are the ONLY game in town for folks who cannot use the HFAs, and the committee set Dec 2009 as the date by which they have to switch over.]

[jacobs-muse.livejournal.com]

Epinephrine inhalers? Yeah, those things aren't safe. Plenty of asthma sufferers have had serious reactions to them. It's stupid for anyone to treat their asthma with them anyway. They took them out of stores for a reason.

[ford-prefect42.livejournal.com]

Just for the record, ethanol is also the active ingredient in the tasty malt beverage I am currently imbibing. Beware of alarmism, it's insidious, it's dangerous, andd it's EVERYWHERE!

[ford-prefect42.livejournal.com]

ishoundntneedtoaddasarctagbutiwillanyway

[jacobs-muse.livejournal.com]

I know what ethanol is. It doesn't belong in an asthma inhaler. I've had asthma since I was 9 and gasoline fumes are one of my triggers. The story was passed on by a doctor to me from a patient and when inhaler recipes were changed, there were many documented cases of the new inhalers either not working as well or making asthma worse. I didn't post the whole story here because it's quite long.

[ford-prefect42.livejournal.com]

kk.

[neemarita.livejournal.com]

WAT.

No wonder my inhalers aren't working anymore. *bangs head against a table* I don't have asthma, but a lung disease where half of each lung is basically destroyed and scar tissue. If I get wheezy, I better just bring my nebulizer every place I go. Ugh.

[jacobs-muse.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the non-CFC inhalers have hundreds of complaints about them, including a ton about the Pro-Air inhaler only releasing a few doses before it doesn't work anymore.

Just did some quick Googling, and I couldn't find - Ooo, wait:

# Combivent Inhalation Aerosol (albuterol and ipratropium in combination), made by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, last date for sale: Dec. 31, 2013
# Maxair Autohaler (pirbuterol), made by Graceway Pharmaceuticals, last date for sale: Dec. 31, 2013

http://www.drugs.com/fda-consumer/seven-inhalers-that-use-cfcs-being-phased-out-126.html

After those dates, it's illegal to sell those in the US. Sigh.

And ouch. At my asthma's worst, I had around 50% capacity, so I know what that feels like. Honestly, if I hadn't been a singer for my teens and grown my lungs out larger than stock for my body, I don't know how I would've been breathing then. As a kid, I started on the albuterol syrup, then had the pill. Got the inhaler freshman year of h.s.

[blondebaroness.livejournal.com]

My Uber-liberal fiance is even against this. He uses Primatene as it is the only inhaler that works for his asthma. The steroidal prescription inhalers don't help him. Why insist people be on steroids when they don't need them. The prescription inhalers use CFCs as well. I think it's to get more people to have to have Obumbla-care.

please visit my blogs ...

[perceptualfears.livejournal.com]

Hi, I have a few blogs I write about my dreams, I do some creative writing from time to time and also write about political and corruption related issues. I have several blogs you can find read some at
1. http://perceptualfears.livejournal.com/
2. http://sportsmanspirit1.blogspot.com/
3. http://one.gracemonie.com
4. http://www.interonic.com
5. http://truepolitician1.blogspot.com/
6. http://theinvestigation1.blogspot.com/
7. http://twitter.com/graciousmonie
I hope you find my blogs interesting to read and comment on, if you have feedback on my blogs it would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Grace Monie (grace@gracemonie.com)
…
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
- John Wooden