Albuterol inhalers behind pollution all along

By James McEchron

For anyone with asthma, an albuterol inhaler can be a lifesaver. The prescription drug is cheap, reliable, and quickly opens up the lungs of asthma sufferers. I never leave my house without one, what with the pollen, dust, and most important, pollution that clogs the air.

Asthma sufferers have it pretty good most of the time. I don’t have a very serious case; I don’t use one of the home machines and it doesn’t impair my ability to kick the crap out of anyone who thinks I’m some sort of pansy for using one. All good things come to an end, though. At the order of the FDA, the albuterol inhaler is being discontinued, and will be replaced by a more expensive, environmentally friendly alternative. The one I use is 17 bucks. The new one is 40. On top of this, supplies of the old one are running low, production of the new one is off to a slow start, and a shortage is soon to strike home for all of us who weren’t blessed with good lungs.

I don’t know what caused my asthma; It’s not genetic and my parents don’t smoke. I’ve dealt with it since I was pretty young, and almost always with the albuterol inhaler. There’s a lot of buzz right now about how the albuterol inhaler isn’t that good for us users in the longrun, because it isn’t really treating the problem. To that I say a big “so what!?” As far as I know, there is nothing I can do to permanently fix the condition, besides stealing some hobo’s lungs. Dr. Mark O’Halleran, director of the Allergy Clinic in downtown Portland, said in an interview with the Oregonian that this is a “teaching moment” for people with asthma. “Too many asthmatics rely on their albuterol inhalers for quick temporary relief and fail to get proper treatment for the illness.”

He goes on to say that those who rely on albuterol worsen their bronchial passages, and thus worsen their bouts of asthma.

I have been using an albuterol inhaler for at least 10 years. I started using one because I was having difficulty breathing; my dad would take me to the doctor, who would hook me up to this big creepy machine, and resuscitate my lungs. It was noisy, took a long time, and frankly I didn’t like having this thing over my mouth assisting me in breathing. The albuterol has been a lifesaver for me ever since.

Dr. Mark claims that you should ideally not be needing your inhaler more than once or twice a week. Well, i’ll admit, there are some times where I use it more than that. But then there are weeks where I don’t use it at all. I haven’t had to go to the doctor and use his tortoruous device ever since I first got an inhaler, so in my experience my condition hasn’t worsened; I’m not a doctor though, but at the same time there is a big, glaring irony of epic disturbingness within all this.

People using inhalers use them because of stuff that is in the air that irritates their lungs. Dust belongs in the air. So does pollen. But car exhaust, aerosol sprays, cigarette smoke, mills, and all the big factors in smog are a huge reason we use inhalers.

So, instead of changing fuel emmission standards (which as Europe will have you know, it’s high time we caught up), instead of discontinuing environmentally unsound hair sprays or telling people “sorry, no more cigarettes, you’re screwing up the environment and you look stupid,” of all things they are singling out the people who are already strained.

This is the more sensible option: if they were to discontinue cigarettes, creating a shortage and soon after replacing the tobacco with a safer alternative that costed more money, you would have hordes of starbucks-drinking cell phone-equipped mobs ravaging the streets for butts that have that good ole timey flavor. Not to pick on smokers. No, lets pick on the people who drive around with exhaust systems venting more toxic fumes than Bruce Valanch at a pizza party.

I seem mad. Well, I am mad. I’m mad that I have to pay more to breath for a reason that makes no sense. If the environment is a concern, surely car exhaust and aerosol cans are a bigger threat than a medicine users spray directly into their throats once or twice a week, ideally.

If you smokers want to send me your hate mail, go ahead. Keep in mind I was once like you. I smoked a pack a day. In those times, I was using my albuterol nearly twice a day. Its part of the reason I quit, although I do struggle with it and go back to the pack when i’m feeling weak. I’m not the type who walks by a smoker and starts coughing like you’re a jerk. With that in mind, does anyone really think it so unreasonable for me to find the FDA silly in their approach to limit pollution?

I’m sure my truck could use some attention as well; I know that the smell it’s making is not only stomach churning, but also bad, bad, bad for the environment. My problem here is that I am being made to suffer because I’m in the most convenient demographic, the person who absolutely needs the item, unlike your cigarettes, to get by. I can’t tell the FDA “Well, I’m just not gonna pay more to breath!” And my fellow asthmatics rioting in the street would probably end up looking pretty pathetic, smashing windows and then gasping for air. It sure would be nice though if us albuterol users could choose to breath properly. Until then, we’ll just have to pay a little bit more for one of life’s simpler needs. Next up on the FDA’s agenda is a sleeping fee, you people really have no clue how bad this is for our economy.

Oh yeah, no apology to coffee drinkers.