See, we signed an agreement with other nations to stop using substances that may deplete the ozone layer. And over-the-counter asthma inhalers may do that over time, so we’ree banning them.
What are you supposed to do if you have asthma? Get a more costly prescription for a more costly inhaler available behind the pharmacy counter. It’ll be a boon for drug companies.
Asthma patients who rely on over-the-counter inhalers will need to switch to prescription-only alternatives as part of the federal government’s latest attempt to protect the Earth’s atmosphere.
The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday patients who use the epinephrine inhalers to treat mild asthma will need to switch by Dec. 31 to other types that do not contain chlorofluorocarbons, an aerosol substance once found in a variety of spray products.
The action is part of an agreement signed by the U.S. and other nations to stop using substances that deplete the ozone layer, a region in the atmosphere that helps block harmful ultraviolet rays from the Sun.
But the switch to a greener inhaler will cost consumers more. Epinephrine inhalers are available via online retailers for around $20, whereas the alternatives, which contain the drug albuterol, range from $30 to $60.
So, asthma patients can expect to pay between $10 and $40 more for their inhalers moving forward. Because Obama decided to “save the Earth” by banning such environmentally destructive items as…asthma medication.
And to think people don’t trust him with their health care.
How much in political contributions do you think this move will bring in for the Democratic Party? Sure, he may lose some Average Joe asthma sufferers. But he’ll get plenty of sweet drug company money that will more than make up for it.
Addendum: Even if he didn’t start this process, Obama supports it. He didn’t establish Keynesian economics, either. But his support and enactment makes him responsible for their failure all the same.
The president should have a bit of common sense. And the EPA is federal agency under the executive branch. Hey, maybe we should stop the enactment of a ban that punishes patients just to supposedly help the ozone layer. Nah. He’s good with punishing the patients.
23. September 2011 at 6:47 pm
I have to have my inhaler to survive????
25. September 2011 at 10:13 am
This decision was made 5 years ago, in 2006, by a vote made by the FDA under the Bush administration. The public was actually notified of the impending cancellation in 2008. Also, there is information both on the packaging AND on the website regarding the fact that they will be cancelled out. This had absolutely nothing to do with Obama. The decision was made before he was president, and the public had already been notified.
25. September 2011 at 7:43 pm
Which I acknowledge in my post:
“Addendum: Even if he didn’t start this process, Obama supports it. He didn’t establish Keynesian economics, either. But his support and enactment makes him responsible for their failure all the same.”
Obama apparently supports the idiotic ban. If Bush was still in office I’d be attacking him over it, too. But there’s nothing Bush can do now. Obama can do something.
3. October 2011 at 2:22 am
This is pretty lazy journalism.
It took me a minute to connect the dots. The giant, neon, flashing dots.
Obama’s attorney general is:
http://www.bnet.com/blog/drug-business/gsk-again-has-a-legal-friend-in-washington/581