Environmentalists Kill Asthmatics - For No Good Reason
Sun July 20th, 2008 18:40 MSTImagine you can hardly breath. There is a monster sitting on your chest. An asthmatic having an attack, you reach for your lifesaving albuterol inhaler.
But it’s not there… an environmentalist has it instead, and won’t give it to you.
You die.
Yep - environmentalists, though the EPA, have banned the generic albuterol inhalers, because they contain CFC’s.
And they don’t even need to do it! In 2010, the patents on non-CFC propellants expire, and generic inhalers will be again be available.
But in 2009, forget it. Asthmatics (or you, through your insurance premiums) will have to pay a lot more for non-generic inhalers.
And, of course, some will choose instead to take the risk.
And die.
That’s modern environmentalism for you - save the planet, but let the people die.
Dude, what a sad way to spin what the FDA has done to people with lung diseases.
This bull**** is all about the drug companies taking a medication that has been generic for decades and reformulating it so that it becomes proprietary again. The difference means upwards of billions of dollars to the four companies to which the FDA awarded the proprietary formulation licenses.
Regardless, people with lung issues are indeed having their lives seriously threatened by the FDA and drug companies and they need to know about this!
You may want to read…
http://mayorsam.blogspot.com/2008/06/new-fda-policy-endangers-respiratory.html
… and learn some actual facts about the situation.
Petra, there is a fundamental flaw in your reasoning.
By your logic, since the drug companies are reformulating a medicine and hence making a lot of money on the new formulation, they must be the cause. Actually, the FDA, acting for environmental reasons (improper ones given the 2010 patent expiration), made it illegal to sell the old, generic formulations.
You have cause and effect reversed. The FDA responded to environmental restrictions to do this.
The drug companies are certainly happy to be able to make a lot of money because of the FDA mandate. But without that mandate, generic manufacturers would still be able to compete by supplying the low cost CFC powered albuterol inhalers.
Fact — no one actually believed the FDA would go through with the ban on medical use CFCs. No one…not the MDs, not patients, not politicos, not environmentalists. Use of CFCs for medical purposes worldwide constitute less than 1% of 1997 total CFC numbers which is effectively negligible when examining the environmental load on the atmosphere. Even the drug companies who came out with a number of alternative formulations after the Montreal Protocol was signed suspended all of them because there was no demand and no demand was on the horizon. So why did the FDA ban medical use CFCs, especially under this particular edministration? That’s a damn good question.
Fact — there are lots of asthma inhalers available to any asthmatic, and there will be in 2009. No one will be denied an asthma inhaler by anyone, including environmentalists. Death from “being denied an inhaler” will not happen… The opening shock-line in this blog is … [pick your own adjective].
Fact — the thing that may kill asthmatics is the new replacement propellant, HFA, and the chemical it is often combined with, ethanol. Ethanol is a broncho-constrictor, and HFA is anesthesia. Sufficient testing was not done HFA or the combination of HFA + ethanol on actual asthmatics. In fact, broad testing was done on people who do not have compromised lungs of any kind, and to claim that this is proper testing is ludicrous since lung-compromised people are ultra-sensitive to things heathly individuals are not…
Fact — and, here’s the big one, the FDA approved ZERO alternatives. If you are someone with lung issues and have problems with HFA/HFA-ethanol, you are completely screwed in America.
I hope you will recognize where the real threats to asthmatics and others who are lung-compromised are in this issue and provide information and suggestions accordingly.
I suggest starting with the movement to save CFC inhalers — https://www.savecfcinhalers.org/
I also suggest getting the word out so that people using HFA/HFA-ethanol inhalers are consciously aware that their medication *may* be compromising their health.
Petra,
You are missing the point. All causes have side effects. This problem IS a direct result of environmentalism being carried too far. The FDA is simply the instrument.
FACT: Some people will forego purchasing an inhaler because of the cost, and some of them will have serious trouble and die. Not everyone, but some people have very little money and will choose to take the risk.
You may not like the spin, but there is a direct causal relationship between environmental puritanism and the deaths that will happen in 2009 if the FDA doesn’t change its mind.
I was not aware of the potential dangers of HFA, but that is not the point of THIS article. However, again, actions have unintended consequences. This (HFA dangers, lack of CFC inhalers) is a consequence of environmentalism.