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Obama Administration Set to Ban Asthma Inhalers Over Environmental Concerns
Weekly Standard ^ | September 23, 2011 | Mark Hemingway

Posted on 09/23/2011 9:28:10 PM PDT by neverdem

Remember how Obama recently waived new ozone regulations at the EPA because they were too costly? Well, it seems that the Obama administration would rather make people with Asthma cough up money than let them make a surely inconsequential contribution to depleting the ozone layer:

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.

The Atlantic's Megan McArdle, an asthma sufferer, noted a while back that when consumers are forced to use environmentally friendly products they are almost always worse:

Er, industry also knew how to make low-flow toilets, which is why every toilet in my recently renovated rental house clogs at least once a week.  They knew how to make more energy efficient dryers, which is why even on high, I have to run every load through the dryer in said house twice.  And they knew how to make inexpensive compact flourescent bulbs, which is why my head hurts from the glare emitting from my bedroom lamp.    They also knew how to make asthma inhalers without CFCs, which is why I am hoarding old albuterol inhalers that, unlike the new ones, a) significantly improve my breathing and b) do not make me gag.  Etc.

Well, tough cookies asthma sufferers! You should have written bigger checks to the Democratic party while you had the chance.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: asthma; asthmainhalers; epa; obama; regulations
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To: neverdem

The war on useful meds is getting very tiresome. Pseudoephidrine is another one that is getting to be a hassle to get in some locations.

I was pre-adolescent asthmatic, and used an inhaler for a few years. Banning such a small item is more to send a message to the peasants than any other reason, as far as I can tell.


21 posted on 09/23/2011 10:39:48 PM PDT by WoofDog123
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To: neverdem

Soooo... you can spray this stuff directly into your lungs to help you BREATHE - but it’s harmful to “the environment”? Got it.


22 posted on 09/23/2011 10:49:45 PM PDT by apastron (I miss the good old days - when bankers just jumped out of a window...)
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To: neverdem

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 take more control.


23 posted on 09/23/2011 10:52:16 PM PDT by MarMema (chains we can believe in)
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To: Aria

I think it is instead preparation for federal healthcare.


24 posted on 09/23/2011 10:54:08 PM PDT by MarMema (chains we can believe in)
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To: Darkwolf377
Obama Administration to Ban Asthma Inhalers Over Environmental Concerns 1st title

"Obama Administration Set to Ban Asthma Inhalers Over Environmental Concerns" 2nd title

25 posted on 09/23/2011 10:58:03 PM PDT by neverdem (Xin loi minh oi)
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To: neverdem

This has got to be a joke. Right? Where was the sarcasm symbol?

Give me some air!


26 posted on 09/23/2011 11:08:26 PM PDT by jonrick46 (2012 can't come soon enough.)
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To: MarMema

Life Extension magazine has an article (that I can’t link right now because they’re down for maintenance) that tells about how drug companies bribe politicians to get the FDA to get rid of the competitors to the drugs these companies patent.

There are examples of this and one that I recall is estoril, a natural estrogen considered way more safe than PREMARIN which is from the urine of a pregnant horse. The maker of Premarin has bribed our politicians to get the FDA to make estroil way more difficult to get but I can’t remember all the details.

Both sides of the aisle are at fault. And I believe that anyone who tries to disrupt this cash flow will be as trashed as Sarah has been. Follow the money.

Since Sarah had just been talking about crony capitalism I thought this was a real good example of how corporations, our politicians, and the FDA collude to screw We The People.


27 posted on 09/23/2011 11:12:16 PM PDT by Aria ( "If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.")
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To: neverdem

Chris Christie and my sister are among the millions of Americans who use Asthma Inhalers and other brands .....this is crossing the freedom line again Obama. Get rid of Government WASTE in those huge agency’s Washington Bureaucrats run so slovenly while lining their pockets with a little more moo-la. Clean up that city....and you will have a surplus for you budget.


28 posted on 09/23/2011 11:22:05 PM PDT by yoe
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To: neverdem

Their business plan calls for collateral damage


29 posted on 09/23/2011 11:32:56 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously, you won't live through it anyway)
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To: neverdem

Strangest term I’ve ever lived through.


30 posted on 09/23/2011 11:43:07 PM PDT by Del Rapier
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To: MarMema

Here’s the link:

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2011/oct2011_Regulation-of-Medicine-is-Bankrupting-the-United-States-What-Congress-Can-Do-to-Stop-It_02.htm?source=search&key=fda%202011


31 posted on 09/24/2011 12:09:10 AM PDT by Aria ( "If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.")
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To: neverdem

Obama and company: Save the earth, kill asthmatic children. And a side benefit to offing the children is there’s more money to redirect to campaign donors’ bogus “green” corps.


32 posted on 09/24/2011 12:19:17 AM PDT by onemiddleamerican (FUBO and all your terrorist buddies)
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To: MarMema

It’s worse than being forced to to switch to prescription inhalers. The prescriptions inhalers, even the generic ones, were also forced to reformulate to avoid CFCs.

But, there are no generic, reformulated inhalers so the price has doubled even for those with prescriptions.

BTW: The OTC inhalers are cr@p.


33 posted on 09/24/2011 2:09:16 AM PDT by 5by5
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To: neverdem

What about breathalizers? You remember that memorable speech. Inhalators, breathalizers, inhalers what ever! And they made fun of Bush off the cuff.


34 posted on 09/24/2011 3:27:34 AM PDT by ronnie raygun (V)
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To: neverdem

Congress, unions, and Moslems are exempted — as always.


35 posted on 09/24/2011 4:12:15 AM PDT by Diogenesis ("Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. " Pres. Ronald Reagan)
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To: DBrow

And there is no longer a generic albuterol inhaler being made. The so-called ‘brand names’ cost a whole lot more than the generic used to.


36 posted on 09/24/2011 5:30:24 AM PDT by patriciaruth (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1993905/posts)
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To: neverdem
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.
There's only one conclusion to reach from this:
Obama Hates: White people, the Middle Class, and people with private insurance.
:-)
37 posted on 09/24/2011 5:35:35 AM PDT by Condor51 (Yo Hoffa, so you want to 'take out conservatives'. Well okay Jr - I'm your Huckleberry)
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To: denydenydeny

I pay 30.00 for my inhaler and that is with medical insurance. I don’t agree with this but I read that over the counter inhalers are very dangerous. I would never buy one.


38 posted on 09/24/2011 6:21:36 AM PDT by angcat (RUN SARAH RUN!)
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To: neverdem

I say obammy’s teleprompter should be banned as it produces too much hot air.


39 posted on 09/24/2011 6:50:01 AM PDT by New Jersey Realist (Congress doesn't care a damn about "we the people")
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To: neverdem

This is environmental BS. IT’s just so that the EPA can show you who’s in charge.

I’m really getting fed up with “green”.
My wife picked up a coffee maker last week.
The coffee came out luke-warm. When I looked at the box, it listed it as meeting the “energy saver guidelines”, i.e., green.
I like HOT coffee not dark colored dishwater.
The EPA and all their regulations need to be shut down.


40 posted on 09/24/2011 8:22:25 AM PDT by BuffaloJack (Defeat Obama. End the War On Freedom.)
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