Obama To Asthma Patients: Drop Dead
Christopher C. Horner writes at Big Government that Obama said one thing when he was campaigning to be in power:
Everybody knows that it makes no sense that you send a kid to the emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma, they end up taking up a hospital bed, it costs, when, if you, they just gave, you gave them treatment early and they got some treatment, and a, a breathalyzer, or inhalator, not a breathalyzer. (crowd laughing) I haven't had much sleep in the last 48 hours.
And he's promoting quite a different approach now that he's actually in power, with his FDA banning the last over-the-counter asthma inhaler "as part of an international agreement to stop the use of substances that damage the environment":
The only over-the-counter asthma inhaler sold in the United States will no longer be available next year as part of an international agreement to stop the use of substances that damage the environment.Primatene Mist (epinephrine) is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the temporary relief of occasional symptoms of mild asthma. FDA urges those who use Primatene Mist to see a health care professional soon to switch to another asthma medicine.
Primatene Mist inhalers are being discontinued because they use chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as a propellant (spray) to move the medicine out of the inhaler so patients can breathe the medicine into their lungs.
Just guessing here, but doesn't Al Gore's jet do more damage to the environment in a single trip than all the people across America choking for breath and sucking on their asthma inhalers in an entire year?
Who's going to ground Al to save the planet?
via @WalterOlson
This sucks. I have very mild asthma, which only crops up in the summer in NYC when pollution is high. Primatene Mist was a good solution. It makes me wonder about all the low-income people in upper Manhattan, an asthma hotspot.
Melissa at July 25, 2011 6:29 AM
This is both stupid and dangerous. Just last year, my wife had a reaction to the stuff the lawn care people sprayed and didn't realize her inhaler was in my car. She drove herself to the Walgreens a few blocks away and grabbed Primatene to stop the attack. Yes, she could have called 911, but the wait for an EMT would likely have taken as long as driving to the ER 15 minutes away.
It's going to be even worse (and much more costly) for people where emergency services are already spotty, at best.
Matt at July 25, 2011 6:37 AM
This has nothing to do with the environment, and everything to do with the government and the drug companies consolidating profits.
Welcome to crony capitalism. For the right price, the government will regulate your competition out of existence.
brian at July 25, 2011 6:38 AM
They have switched the delivery mechanism on my prescription inhaler twice in the last few years. Each rendition is harder to use and requires more upkeep. This is not an issue for me since my asthma is pretty mild but I would hate to see someone with serious asthma die because their new, "improved" inhaler was clogged.
Astra at July 25, 2011 6:46 AM
I was wondering why we hadn't been able to find the oldest daughter an inhaler for this summer. It just nuts. We may have to take her to a doctor and get a bunch of test done justto get her an inhaler. She only needs them when they mow the lawn and at the beginning of spring.
JosephineMO7 at July 25, 2011 7:06 AM
"This has nothing to do with the environment, and everything to do with the government and the drug companies consolidating profits."
It's becoming apparent that one of the goals of the Obama administration is to eliminate over-the-counter drugs. There's a big set of perverse incentives here. One may be, as Brian says, crony capitalism, or maybe it's more accurate to characterize it as a reaction to / exploitation of threatened government piracy -- hard to tell exactly, but no doubt some sort of connection exists there.
Then we have the leftists who believe that the hoi-polloi should live in a "state of nature", which means without benefit of technology. (Of course, they do not include themselves in that category.) I think they are seeing political opportunity here: by denying drugs and other benefits of technology to most of the population, they can reduce the political power of the middle class by shortening their lifespans.
Does that sound paranoid? Glenn Reynolds wrote today on his blog that he thinks that the various privileges that the ruling class is granting itself amount of titles of nobility (which are expressly forbidden by the Constitution). And Glenn isn't a raving lunatic.
Cousin Dave at July 25, 2011 8:39 AM
And the best part! There is precious little SCIENTIFIC evidence that CFCs harm the environment and quite a bit of evidence that the fluctuations in the ozone layer are natural.
Joe at July 25, 2011 9:04 AM
Is anyone REALLY that surprised that he's backtracking now on everything he said he'd do in his campaign (read: he lied). He's a politicitian. That's what they do.
Newsflash sheeple... the government doesn't care about you. They only care about controlling you. The highest bidder gets the goods and you get stuck with the leftovers. Wise up folks.
Sabrina at July 25, 2011 10:25 AM
"Is anyone REALLY that surprised that he's backtracking now on everything he said he'd do in his campaign (read: he lied). He's a politicitian. That's what they do."
This. I continue to be surprised that anyone at all is still surprised by this kinda thing.
JDThompson at July 25, 2011 10:52 AM
Denial. It's not just a river in Egypt!
Flynne at July 25, 2011 10:55 AM
RE: Backtracking
I'm not surprised by this, but am surprised by how brazen it is and how much the press has capitulated in their treatment of Obama. Whether you think the press is liberal or not, they are, first and foremost, out for themselves and you'd think they'd be in a full feeding frenzy right now.
Joe at July 25, 2011 11:14 AM
Actually, Joe, there is no scientific evidence that CFCs do anything to ozone. If you combine CFCs and ozone, the end result is CFCs and ozone.
Same deal with freon (R-12). It was inexpensive and non-toxic. You could charge your own AC units and such. DANGEROUS!! HARMFUL!!!
Replace with R-134a. Inefficient. Expensive. TOXIC.
We are the government. We know what's good for you.
DrCos at July 25, 2011 11:19 AM
Actually, the R-12/R-22 ban was pushed by DuPont when the patent on Freon was running out. Conveniently, they had a new refrigerant with a fresh patent all lined up and ready, so they lied to congress about how it is an ozone depleting chemical, and voila! Their competition evaporated.
@Joe - The MFM believe that they will be the official state media in the Grand Socialist American Republic. Which is why they suck so much commie dick.
brian at July 25, 2011 1:25 PM
I agree the CFC and Freon bans are mostly silly. But note all manufacturers were told in 2008 (pre-O) that their CFC propellants would be banned: more than fourteen other inhalers were changed, Primatene was the only holdout.
Oh, and that "hole in the ozone." Last year scientists noted it was (after forty Freon-free and drastic cuts of CFCs years?) "healing" - the first press release had something that promptly disappeared, that they thought that closing of the "hole" was heating Antarctica.
John A at July 25, 2011 2:47 PM
John, just because something is banned doesn't mean that an effective substitute exists. It's quite possible that the makers of Primatene have searched for a substitute, and simply haven't come up with anything that fits the bill. I can imagine that an inhaler needs a propellant with very specific conditions of pressure and expansion (it has to expand at the right velocity to disperse the medicine properly, and not over-pressurize the user's lungs), discharge temperature (you don't want it freezing the user's mouth), non-toxicity, chemical compatibility with the medicine, and storage stability. Substituting CO2 or butane may be fine for underarm deodorant, but not for this.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe all those other inhalers are prescription-only, and therefore they are exempt from the CFC ban.
Cousin Dave at July 25, 2011 3:05 PM
Nope. They've all had to change their propellant formulas to something most users report doesn't work as well.
Conan the Grammarian at July 25, 2011 3:21 PM
Restricting OTC medicines has many culprits:
These are just the ones that come to mind.
Jim P. at July 25, 2011 7:25 PM
An offtopic Amytopic.
Also, I like the locution "revenge effects"... It sounds like a four-to-six-year course of rewarding studies. I should like to be an authority.
Crid [CridComment at gmail] at July 25, 2011 7:50 PM
From the article:
Amy Alkon at July 25, 2011 9:22 PM
Natural selection favors the bold. Those who start giving way to their fears early, tend not to change their habits as they age, meaning they lack the courage to actively pursue and win a mate.
By contrast, the young boy who conquered his fears grows into a strong and confident man, more probably than not, and he is very well suited to the task of finding a woman or three to reproduce with.
Moreover, activities such as exploring heights are the same activities that not only built physical strength, but also developed the exploratory skills that allowed our ancestors to move out of Africa and occupy the world at large. A curiosity about what can be seen from the top of the hill meant the looker gained new opportunities first.
And the first one to find a valley full of lonely cave girls, got a lot more nookie than the one who said, "That's dangerous, think I'll go gnaw on mammoth bones."
Adaptive traits are not always the ones that lead to the greatest safety.
Robert at July 26, 2011 5:00 AM
Supposedly they're going after vitamins as well now.
Sio at July 26, 2011 1:57 PM
My son and I have asthma and have always use prescription inhalers. Someone made a comment that they are harder to use. I havn't had any problems using them and neither has my son whose used them since he was 5. The newere models are easier and have a number counting down how many doses are left. I would never by an inhaler over the counter for my asthma. There are not costly test to go through every year. Insurance pays for the initial assesment. I do not understand the concern about removal of over the counter medications. It's a non-issue to me and I have asthma.
Beth Hubbel at September 24, 2011 7:57 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/07/25/obama_to_asthma.html#comment-2512088">comment from Beth HubbelWhy should people who want to use OTC inhalers be stopped? And what is and isn't costly depends on how you're doing in this economy. A lot of people can barely put food on the table and keep the lights on.
Amy Alkon at September 24, 2011 8:04 AM
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