Dear FDA,
Please don’t ban over-the-counter asthma inhalers. Did you know Primatene Mist saved my husband from an expensive trip to the ER? He had just lost his job, our insurance was gone and our income had vanished, when a late Sunday afternoon he had an asthma attack.
So what do he do when he went to use his inhaler and realized it was empty? He jumped in the car, squealed away and rushed into CVS for a Primatene Mist inhaler.
Guess what? That inhaler you are now banning stopped his asthma attack and saved our family a lot of money we didn’t have. Apparently he isn’t the only asthma suffer who uses Primatene Mist either. Upwards of one to two million people use it.
To make matters worse, prescription inhalers can cost up to three times as much and require a doctor’s visit. So why are green inhalers so much more expensive? Well, because they’re green: The patents on inhalers that use CFC expired long ago but the patents on the new environmentally safe hydrofluoroalkane inhalers will be in effect until at least 2015.
Gee, maybe the FDA should hold-off banning CFC for a few years until the patents on HFA inhalers have lapsed. Maybe then lower-income asthma sufferers wouldn’t have to choose between their wallets and, er, breathing.
Doesn’t this ban essentially do what President Obama described is wrong with our healthcare system in this video?
I really don’t get it. Guess it’s time to hoard Primatene Mist! Never know when hubby may have an untimely asthma attack.
