Many pharmacies have been selling the new inhalers for several months. All pharmacies must sell the new inhalers by the end of this year.
The medicine inside these rescue inhalers -- the albuterol that quickly opens airways during an asthma attack -- isn't changing. But the chemicals used to puff that drug into your lungs are.
No more chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, that damage Earth's protective ozone layer. By year's end, all albuterol inhalers must be powered by the more eco-friendly chemical HFA, or hydrofluoroalkane.
The downside: The new inhalers cost more, $30 to $60 compared to as little as $5 or $10 for the disappearing CFC inhalers.
And patients face a learning curve. HFA inhalers must be used differently than the old-fashioned kind. The medicine feels and tastes different, sometimes alarming new users despite doctors' assurances that it works just as well.
From personal experience I learned that if not used properly the new inhalers may only last for three or four puffs.
This can easily happen when a user forgets and goes back to using the new inhalers like they have used inhalers in the past -- for many years in some cases.
There is little consolation when the pharmacist tells you to read the fine print next time and charges you another $40 for a replacement inhaler. The prescribing doctor gave no verbal instructions nor did the pharmacist.
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