Environmentally friendly inhalers coming — at a price

FRESNO BEE

Asthma inhalers are going green.

And users are seeing red over paying more for the new, environmentally friendly devices.

But like it or not, asthmatics who carry inhalers containing albuterol, a quick-acting drug that opens airways, will be switched to new inhalers soon — if they haven’t already — that are free of chlorofluorocarbons, an ozone-depleting propellant.

The old devices — called CFC inhalers — will be banned for use in the United States on Dec. 31.

Pharmacists say it’s increasingly difficult to order CFC inhalers. Manufacturers began phasing them out a year or two ago for inhalers that contain hydrofluoroalkane, or HFA, a more ozone-friendly propellant. The propellant forces a dose of medication out of the inhaler.

The new inhalers are as effective as the old ones, pharmacists and doctors say. But they’re more expensive. Overall, prices of the new inhalers are higher because there are no generic versions.