Asthma sufferers in the US will continue to suffer

I have had asthma for over 10 years. At the onset of this horrible disease, I was spending every weekend in the hospital ER receiving steroids via a needle in my butt. This went on for several months. The doctors didn't actively try to find a preventative medication for me until after an occasion when the EMTs showed up after I had stopped breathing and turned blue.

It was decided I would get rid of my cats (Charlie, Annie and Frankie) although not necessary because scratch tests concluded my asthma was not allergy induced. But with my family starting (my oldest son was about one week old) I figured it would be a good idea. I also removed all of my stuffed animals and books from my bedroom. That is really suggested to everyone as breathing in that stuff night after night can eventually lead to breathing problems. Although by this time it had been decided I had chronic asthma and there wasn't anything I could do to reverse it. Great.

I eventually found a doctor who was actually concerned for his patients. He was disgusted at the amount of steroids I had received in the ER and wanted to steer clear of traditional mist/aerosol inhalers and prescribed for me a dry powder inhaler PULMICORT TURBUHALER.

Pulmicort Turbuhaler has been a lifesaver since. After just 4 days on this preventative medication I was able to breathe easy. No more nebulizer! No more rescue inhaler! Thank you Dr. Miller.

11 years and 3 doctors later and Pulmicort is still the drug for me. Only problem is this: AstraZeneca has discontinued this drug as of May 2007. I did not receive notice. My doctor apparently did not either. A handful of months ago I was written a new prescription for 3 months supply of both Pulmicort Turbuhaler and an Albuterol inhaler (generic). I faxed it into our local pharmacy and they called two days later letting me know I could come pick them up.

It turned out that I was only able to pick up the Albuterol and the Pulmicort would have to wait another day. No problem. She charges me $30. Which is double what I thought my co-pay was but maybe I had the two mixed up. And then I got in the car. What was usually a white plastic casing the length of a finger turned out to be a red, very short case with the name Pro-Air on it. Wait a minute. I know my doctor checked OK to substitute. I now knew why I paid $30.00. I figured no big deal. I’ll mention it to the pharmacy before my next refill. And then I took a breath off of it. My husband and I both knew it wasn’t the same. It didn’t sound quite right. You can hear the generic inhaler working to get the medicine into your lungs. This Pro Air one sounded like, well, barely sounded. I called the pharmacy and inquired. She told me that both of the inhalers I ordered are no longer available because they are destroying the ozone layer. The Albuterol is no longer offered in a generic and my Turbuhaler has been replaced with the Flexhaler.

OK then. So I’ll pay full price for Albuterol but it better work better than it sounds. And I assumed that the Flexhaler would be the same, just a change in how it is expelled.

The next day came and I picked up my Pulmicort. It tasted off and I could feel it sitting in my air passages. It wasn’t right but I thought it might have been due to the fact that I had been off of it for a few days or because of the Pro Air (because after 24 hours of hitting this inhaler several times I knew it was very different).

Several days went by and my breathing worsened. At this point I don’t know how to figure out which inhaler is causing me problems. The pharmacist had mentioned that the Flexhaler was different in that the canister has only 120 metered doses (as opposed to the 200 in Turbuhaler) but she made no mention of the fact that those metered doses were both different formulas and less mcg per puff. And how terribly wrong it is that she let me walk away with a prescription drug without telling me everything I needed to know! She makes how much money?!

A couple more days of coughing and now a sore throat combined with breathing which wasn’t getting any easier and I decided to find out if others were having the same problems.

I didn’t find too many people commenting on how it is or isn’t working for them. More often found were people stating they are allergic to something that is in the new Pulmicort that wasn’t in the old formula. What I did find was AstraZeneca has posted the results of the Turbuhaler’s effectiveness vs. Flexhaler and just I like already knew, Flexhaler is considerably less. For every 180 mcg of medicine you should receive in one puff, you in fact only receive 160! Which in and of itself may not be a huge deal, maybe an extra puff every other day to compensate, but that isn’t the biggest problem.

The real issue is this: asthma sufferers like myself are finding that not only is this new drug not working but it is actually causing bigger problems!

I tried to find out under what conditions this medication could still be purchased. There are some loopholes that sometimes allow something otherwise forbidden if it can be proven a medical necessity. They allow people to purchase and smoke pot…Most certainly life saving drugs will fall under this clause.

The definition of a medical necessity by FDA :

"A product is considered to be medically necessary, or a medical necessity, if it is used to treat or prevent a serious disease or medical condition, and there is no other available source of that product or alternative drug or therapy that is judged by medical staff to be an adequate substitute. Patient "inconvenience" alone is an insufficient basis to classify a product as a medical necessity."

NOPE! Even though no other steroid inhaler is able to control my asthma and even though this replacement one is worsening my condition, it is not a medial necessity.

Again I get the same line of crap about how these inhalers are doing such damage to the ozone layer and AstraZeneca will under no circumstance supply this product anymore. Now maybe the morons who believe everything that government wants them to believe won’t question this but I am NOT one of those people. The pharmacies have found a way to sell a desperately needed product for the same amount of money for less quantity and quality!

For giggles and grins I decided to find out if it is available in Canada and ya know what? It is. It is available and out of the several pharmacies I spoke with ZERO of them knew anything about it being unavailable anytime in the future. And buying from them is simple! They receive a medical history from you or your doctor and once they have your prescription written by your own doctor, the pharmacist there rewrites it for you.

Some people have been confused/brainwashed into thinking we cannot buy drugs from Canada and have them shipped to us here in the states. That is not the truth. Do a little investigating and you will find the Bush administration advised against it (shocking that they got involved in my personal business) but there is nothing that can be done. There must be a few people in congress who realize there are much more dangerous things and people getting into our country than prescription, life-saving, drugs.

Kelly Montgomery, your guide to Health Insurance at about.com, posted this back in October of 2006 :

Customs Will No Longer Seize Prescriptions From Overseas
"Last fall, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol announced that it would begin seizing prescription drugs imported from Canada. After confiscating approximately 40,000 shipments of mail-order medications from Canada in the past year, Customs has decided to discontinue blocking the importation of prescriptions from Canada, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. The new policy allowing importation is currently in effect, so those who choose to mail-order their prescriptions from Canada can do so without government interference. The Bush administration continues to warn the public that these imported medications may be counterfeit or unsafe.

I will advise you this though. Check with NAPRA National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities to ensure you are dealing with a licensed pharmacy that meets the highest of standards. Also, check and double check that the pharmacy stated has a physical location with a phone number to speak with a pharmacist. There are a ton of websites that claim they are legitimate…that doesn’t mean they all are. If there is just an 800 number to call and order through, continue looking. Also, be sure to check as many prices as possible. Some vary by as much as $20 and don’t forget to check on shipping charges. Some pharmacies charge you to rewrite your prescription…continue looking, you will find one that doesn’t.

As of 2009 I am joining the group of people who get their prescriptions filled in Canada. I know most people turn North for more affordable drugs. This is not the case for me. I have insurance here. My co-pay is $30 for brand names, $15 for generics. I will be paying upwards of $75 to have one month’s supply sent to me. But as I see it, Pulmicort Turbuhaler IS a medical necessity so I’ll pay.