Possible Shortage of Albuterol Inhalers

Susan combs,

I respect and admire your persistence but you are up against a world issue banning a specific propellant.

Quite frankly, I wish some pharmaceutical company would bring back the dry powder albuterol inhaler, such as the Ventolin Rotahaler. However, they are not for everyone.

Anyway, at this rate the only other option is some portable nebulizer if the HFA option gets any worse.

the bit about the spacer and the cfc ,that i think was the best i'v ever heard in my life you are the biggesthorses rump and than-you for the words from the one that said i can think of a place to stick the spacer GREET WORDS!!!!!!!!!!

mpatel: if you are taking upwards 4puffs to get the dose you need you should really try what my 14 year okd daughter uses it is (advair 250) one in morning and one before bed when she is short of breath she uses her ventiline disk inhaler 2 puffs only for instint releaf this really works your life will be good try GOOD LUCK hope this is what your looking for

PRO AIR Is my new Inhaler My old Inhaler was Albuterol it a let me tell you I am 19years old & I have been using Albuterol sense I was A child I Had started to use AddVair when I trend 13tn it helped A lot so I did'nt have to use my Albuterol Inhaler But now sense they changed my Inhaler to PRO AIR I have been very sick & it cost so much it's hared for me to git it because I do have that much money.I just wish that the person how changed the medacine that I have always used should of lefted it alone because the PRO AIR is going to kill some one not help them!!!

Vanessa...I really feel bad for you. I had the same trouble with the proair...it made mme sick after I had to start on it. It WILL NOT work as a RESCUE inhaler so Please ,be careful. Have a back=up ready??? I live in Tucson also,and checked most of the drug stores, thay all had the ProAir. Please sign our petition. Put exactly how you feel. It will be sent to the FDA. Breathe Well.
Http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/300...

Susan, you may wish to look over a new topic. See---

http://www.topix.net/us/fda/2007/04/fda-to-ho...

I understand Abuterol Inhalers are banned because of it affects the Ozone. Now the new inhalers contain Ethanol - What???
I just read on this same webpage that Ethanol fuel blends used in automobiles increase smog and will cause respitory problems! The FDA approves ethanol for use in inhalers.....What's going on? I'm very concerned because my 12 year old granddaughter depends on Inhalers.

EllieRagsac,

It is true that most inhalers contain ethanol and it is used to allow the dry crystalline solids of the medications to become wetting agent to be dispensed as a metered spray. Rescue inhalers such as ProAir and Proventil uses little of it as Xopenex and Ventolin contains the most.

Most of the efficiency complaints I am hearing are directed at ProAir and Proventil, and lesser from Xopenex and Ventolin, with the exception of everything having the high costs.

I have also heard, this being an alcohol, it can cause erroneous readings in breathalyzers. This of course has legal and moral-religious implications.

this is the most ridiculous thing ive heard of possibly in my life. its stupid to ban cfc use for a. something this small b. something this essential. screw anyone who says you should look for alternatives etc. I am no longer an asthmatic but I had it so bad as a kid, these inhalers kept me alive. No kidding, i almost died several times. New inhaler products would come out and some helped but most didnt. Anyone who thinks thinks reducing a few cfc's at the possible (likely?) cost of human lives is simply retarded. I just glad I survived my childhood prior to this insanity becoming what it is today.

boomhauer, I can say personally the whole situation stinks to high heaven, and reeks of money grubbing. It is just that the whole World took it to heart and said that CFCs must go. They started it with Automobiles, refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, and aerosol cans.

Medical use items were and now are the last things to be phased out, and it seems eager Rx companies came out possibly sooner than expected because it was a snooze and loose situation. Generic products per se, are CFC products and those were cheap. Under the HFC reformulation plan it somehow caused a process proprietary enough to permit a new patent. However, this second time around they are only good for 5 years or till 2010.(Thus eagerness yields $$ for every month till that 2010 date and any new process will be limited to remaining time)

You know we waited the full 20 years for Albuterol to become generic.(1980-2000) Just for it to revert under the HFC process.

Companies can from, what I gather, can still make generic Albuterol as long as it isn't involving a HFC process. I was hoping for a dry powder inhaler but that remains to be seen.

Jack50 wrote:

EllieRagsac,
It is true that most inhalers contain ethanol and it is used to allow the dry crystalline solids of the medications to become wetting agent to be dispensed as a metered spray. Rescue inhalers such as ProAir and Proventil uses little of it as Xopenex and Ventolin contains the most.
Most of the efficiency complaints I am hearing are directed at ProAir and Proventil, and lesser from Xopenex and Ventolin, with the exception of everything having the high costs.
I have also heard, this being an alcohol, it can cause erroneous readings in breathalyzers. This of course has legal and moral-religious implications.

Jack50 where did you find that albuterol inhalers can affect the breathalyzer test? pls get back to me asap!

James wrote:

<quoted text>
Jack50 where did you find that albuterol inhalers can affect the breathalyzer test? pls get back to me asap!

Geez, it is such common knowledge to me that, I never bothered to look.

Please Note: Albuterol is a US generic pharma term. The rest of the world uses the name Salbutamol for the same active ingredient.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi...

i hate this wrote:

i am a 13 year old girl who is very very dependent on the inhalers. i use it almost every day cause i am very athletic, and if i dont have this inhalers i could die and if which i do my parents possibly whole family will sue each and every one of you so you better work HARD on makeing those inhalers cause we would sue a fine of $1million. all i can say is we dont really care about the ozone layer. i dont mind if you were to make both new and old inhalers, since i know that the quvar dosent work for me i am SURE that the stupid new helping the stupid ozone layer and we got a shortage lie wont help. just remeber that sooo many people are depending on these, a lot of people might die cause of you selfish people. i hope my one little voice will change this like most people say... oh and we are sue-ing for how much? thats right $1million!!!

i'm 14, in sports and use my inhaler all the time! i was shocked when i couldn't get my old inhaler anymore, because it was the only one that gave me fast releif from my athsma! i understand you story fully and completely because i'm in your shoes. & to all you who care SOO much about the ozone, stop and think about the people you are hurting because your putting the freakin ozone layer before them!

Mallory...I feel so bad for you. At your age you should have other things to worry about other than how to keep breathing!
Please sign our petition at the link below. There is some good information that may explain some things.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/300...

This is an article on ethanol and breath tests

http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/...

Fred, I feel sorry for your wife, you have the same ignorant selfish attitude as many doctors across the country. You probably yell at her when she get's scared about her medicine and tell her she's not informed, or she's imagining it. I have asthma and was also very upset with the new inhalers, no, they dont wotk well, yes, they are more expensive, and does the pharmacist know much or even care? no! My solution is to use a nebulizer with the albuterol sulfate suspension and a steroid inhaler (advair). that cust down the frequency and severity of my attacks. I have had asthma my whole life and trust me, am as dependant on the medication as anybody. This is a struggle, but I am resposnsible for my breathing, no matter who is trying to profit. JS

WARRICK CFC ALBUTEROL INHALERS NOW AVAILABLE!

1. GO TO OUR PETITION AND FIND THE CONTACT INFORMATION FOR GILLESPIES PHARMACY- and remind yourself what it feels like to breathe freely again.

2. While you are there, SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE CFC ALBUTEROL INHALERS, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, FILE A COMPLAINT BY TELEPHONE WITH THE FDA AGAINST THE NEW HFA ALBUTEROL INHALERS (phone number in HUGE RED NUMBERS- IF you have a medical complaint).

3. TELL THEM YOU WANT YOUR NAME PLACED ON THE LIST (YES, they ARE collecting names) OF PEOPLE WHO WANT TO SAVE CFC ALBUTEROL INHALERS!

ACT NOW! DO NOT WAIT!

GO HERE NOW:

http://tinyurl.com/3bul5u

You never know. We may get lucky, despite everything you've heard.

BUT EVERYONE MUST FILE COMPLAINTS (IF they have MEDICAL complaints) WITH THE FDA NOW!

YOU SNOOZE,
YOU LOSE.
FOREVER.

Art

P.S. DO NOT BELIEVE THE BIG LIE THAT HFA ALBUTEROL INHALERS HAVE "THE SAME MEDICINE" AS CFC ALBUTEROL INHALERS. THAT'S TOTAL BULLSHIT!!

1. HFA propellent is NOT as safe as CFC propellent! Schering-Plough says: "Rapid heart beat, vomiting, chest pain, and palpitation occurred more frequently with PROVENTIL® HFA (than with Proventil CFC).

2. HFA inhalers use ALBUTEROL SULFATE unlike CFC inhalers which use ALBUTEROL BASE. MANY PEOPLE are ALLERGIC TO SULFATES. This MAY or MAY NOT be a factor.

3. TWO OF THE THREE HFA INHALERS (IVAX/TEVA PROAIR and PROVENTIL) USE ETHANOL AS AN EXCIPIENT (to disperse the medication). MANY PEOPLE MAY SUFFER BREATHING AND OTHER PROBLEMS FROM ETHANOL, WHICH IS IN LARGE ENOUGH DOSES TO AFFECT BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVELS! CFC INHALERS USE OLEIC ACID AS AN EXCIPIENT WHICH IS HARMLESS.

4. BY FAR, WE RECEIVE MORE SERIOUS COMPLAINTS AGAINST IVAX/TEVA PROAIR HFA ALBUTEROL THAN ANY OTHER HFA.(We suspect that's because IVAX/TEVA PROAIR uses ONLY ETHANOL AS AN EXCIPIENT- unlike PROVENTIL, which uses a combination of ETHANOL and OLEIC ACID as an excipient- and is #2 in complaints.

VENTOLIN USES NO ETHANOL- and has the FEWEST complaints- but we HAVE had some BAD VENTOLIN COMPLAINTS also.

5. Are these MEDICAL PROBLEMS due to the HFA propellent, the SULFATES, the ETHANOL (except in VENTOLIN) a COMBINATION of these things, or SOMETHING ELSE? We don't know, but we DO know that SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG WITH THESE HFA ALBUTEROL INHALERS as far as MANY PATIENTS are concerned. JUST READ THE PETITION COMMENTS!

6. DEMAND THAT YOUR MD WRITE A "NO IVAX/TEVA PROAIR" PRESCRIPTION FOR YOU. DO NOT USE IVAX/TEVA PROAIR ALBUTEROL AT ALL. PERIOD. END OF STORY. IN OUR OPINION, IT IS POISON GAS FOR
ASTHMATICS. IF YOUR DOCTOR REFUSES YOUR REQUEST FOR A "NO IVAX/TEVA PROAIR" PRESCRIPTION- HE OR SHE IS AN IDIOT, AND YOU MUST NEVER ARGUE WITH AN IDIOT! JUST GET A NEW DOCTOR!

Now get over to our petition and DO YOUR PART NOW, and get yourself some nice refreshing CFC ALBUTEROL INHALERS FROM GILLESPIES while you're there.(We do not make ANY MONEY from GILLESPIES SALES of these CFC ALBUTEROL INHALERS, by the way. It's a free referral service we offer to our petitioners.)

DO IT NOW:

http://tinyurl.com/3bul5u

Oh! So, it is necessary to remove asthma inhalers from the market because of the cfcs; yet the factories and MAJOR AIR POLLUTERS are permitted to continue to spew crap into the air we breathe? You cannot tell me that the small amount of cfcs that asthma inhalers produce are a leading cause in "global warming"! These companies are more than likely the CAUSE of the majority of the asthma patients in the US (not to mention global warming). Makes me wonder who's in charge?? I believe our government cares more about profit than its citizens. Hey Uncle Sam:
You Are Killing US!!!

PEOPLE, PLEASE FORGIVE ME!

I didn't mean to post the above message TWICE!

I'm very sorry, I was going too fast.

Art

WARNING:‘DR. L’(aka DR. VINNIGUMPA aka CHIEF PULMONARY MD aka Dr. MANISHANKAR BUTTO- ALL FROM WALTHAM, MA) IS A PSYCHIATRIC BASKET CASE AND A VERY POORLY INFORMED MD. IGNORE HIM. I TOLD YOU THAT HE WOULD CONTINUE TO CHANGE PSEUDONYMS EARLIER- AND HE HAS- AND HE WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO.)

For all intents and purposes, HFA ALBUTEROL INHALERS ARE NEW DRUGS FIRST INTRODUCED EN MASSE IN 2007- AND THE PATIENT RESPONSE HAS BEEN MASSIVELY, VIOLENTLY NEGATIVE (read petition comments here: http://tinyurl.com/3bul5u ).

Yes, it’s true that Proventil HFA was introduced in the US in 1996, but it’s also true that there have been problems reported with it, very similar to what patients are complaining about today:

Bamber MG. Difficulties with CFC-free salbutamol inhaler, The Lancet 1996; 348 (21/28) 1737

Further, common sense suggests that any patients who tried Proventil HFA since 1996 or Ventolin HFA since 2004 and had any complaints about either of them, simply went back to CFC ALBUTEROL- WHICH HAS MASSIVELY DOMINATED THE ALBUTEROL MARKET UNTIL 2007- and THIS is why HFA inhalers- particulary MARKET LEADER AND COMPLAINT LEADER IVAX/TEVA PROAIR (aka ‘MAXIMUM ETHANOL, POISON GAS FOR ASTHMATICS’)- MUST BE LOOKED AT AS THOUGH THEY ARE NEW DRUGS, because in terms of SUBSTANTIAL POSTMARKETING DATA, THEY DAMN WELL ARE!

And for the record, I DON’T TRUST ‘patient acceptance’ of HFA albuterol inhalers in other countries. Since I don’t believe the GARBAGE DATA (ie,‘CFC INHALERS HARM THE OZONE LAYER’- WHAT COMPLETE AND UTTER BULLSHIT!) that constantly spews from our own FDA and EPA, why should I trust any OTHER country’s ‘FDA’ or ‘EPA’ when they report on ‘patient acceptance’ of HFA albuterol inhalers?

The MOST IMPORTANT PROOF OF SAFETY of ANY new drug (and as I’ve explained above, HFA albuterol inhalers MUST be considered to be new drugs as of 2007) is the POSTMARKETING DATA- the complaints generated when the drug gets into the hands of patients on a large scale (read this article and show it to any MD WHO SAYS THERE’S ‘NO PROOF’ THAT HFA ALBUTEROL ISN’T AS SAFE AND EFFECTIVE AS CFC ALBUTEROL: http://tinyurl.com/2zsmyb ).

ANY THOUGHTFUL, SEASONED CLINICIAN SHOULD BE ALARMED BY THIS IMMEDIATE, WIDESPREAD PATIENT REACTION. It usually takes YEARS to uncover a new drugs major adverse reactions- in the case of HFA albuterol inhalers- it only took WEEKS! IF YOUR MD DOES NOT TAKE YOUR HFA ALBUTEROL COMPLAINT SERIOUSLY, IF YOUR MD REFUSES TO GIVE YOU A “NO IVAX/TEVA PROAIR” PRESCRIPTION (try Ventolin, try Proventil, try Xopenex- get some WARRICK CFC [see details for Gillespies Pharmacy at our petition]- BUT NEVER USE IVAX/PROAIR!)- THEN GET A NEW DOCTOR!

Good luck to all albuterol users, and if you have not yet done so:

1) sign the petition
2) file a telephone complaint with the FDA (if you’ve had a problem with a HFA inhaler- FDA # IS AT THR PETITION IN BIG, RED NUMBERS)
3) Ask the FDA to put you on the list of people who want to SAVE CFC INHALERS (YES- they ARE collecting names of people who want to save CFC albuterol)
4) Call Gillespies for some WARRICK CFC ALBUTEROL if you want it
5) AND IGNORE THIS SCHMUCK MD ‘DR.L’ aka…aka…aka…aka… FROM WALTHAM, MA!)

DO IT NOW! ALL PHONE NUMBERS (FDA COMPLAINTS, GILLESPIES DRUGS FOR WARRICK CFC) ARE AT THE PETITION:

http://tinyurl.com/3bul5u

YOU SNOOZE,
YOU LOSE,
FOREVER!

Art