May 16, 2008 6:20 pm US/Eastern
Inhaler Changes Affect Asthma Sufferers
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
It's a change that will affect many asthma sufferers, and they might not even know about it. To comply with a 1987 treaty to protect the earth's ozone, inhalers must be CFC-free by January 1, 2009. CFC's, or chlorofluorocarbons, are used as propellants in inhalers used in emergencies by many asthma patients.
CFC-free inhalers use propellants called HFAs, or hydrofluoroalkanes.
The medication is the same, says Dr. Daniel Steinberg of the Asthma and Allergy Center of Massachusetts.
"What's different is the user experience. Number one is the force of the plume, number two is the taste, which some people find disruptive or difficult to use from an aesthetic standpoint, number three is efficacy," says Steinberg.
Steinberg adds, as with any change in a treatment regimen, patients who switch will need to learn to use the HFA inhalers.
"If you're going to take someone from old series of medications they've been using, they need to be reintroduced to them. It's like meeting an old friend. If albuterol (the medication in many inhalers) has been your friend for years you need to meet the new albuterol."
Dr. David Neumeyer, Dean of Admissions at Tufts Medical School and a pulmonologist at The Lahey Clinic, says of the HFA inhalers, "They give a more accurate delivery of the medication."
HFA inhalers have been around for years, but many patients have yet to make the switch. One reason may be the price. They're more expensive. Neumeyer says, "Currently there are no generic versions of CFC-free inhalers."
Historically in medicine, generics develop once patents on medications expire, allowing prices to drop.
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