FDA Urges Patients to Switch to Environmentally-Friendly Asthma Inhalers
Wednesday, December 31st, 1969
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has banned Albuterol asthma inhalers that contain chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s); as of January 1st, 2009 only the new ozone-friendly versions will be available in the U.S.
Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions: Self-Management of Heart Disease, Fatigue, Arthritis, Worry, Diabetes, Frustration, Asthma, Pain, Emphysema, and OthersCFC’s have been proven to damage the Earth’s protective ozone layer, which shields the planet from harmful ultraviolet radiation. The federal agency issued an advisory Friday urging patients not to wait until the last minute to switch to newer alternatives because by the end of December all Albuterol inhalers will be powered by the environmentally-friendly HFA’s, or hydrofluoroalkanes. The FDA said the new HFA inhalers don’t taste or feel the same and are used differently then the old CFC versions.
Most pharmaceutical manufacturers have already stopped production of the old CFC inhalers and have launched the HFA versions already. The current newer options include GlaxoSmithKline’s Ventolin HFA, Schering Plough’s Proventil HFA,Teva Specialty Pharmaceuticals’ ProAir HFA and Sepracors’ Xopenex HFA.
