Asthma medications have become shockingly unavailable, but relief may be on the way

The Asthma drug prices have increased in the US over the last decade and a half.

Jump – in some cases from approx just over $10 to almost $100 per inhaler – meant that patients needing asthma-related products fight often to purchase them. Others just cannot afford their.

Worse still, asthma disproportionately affects patients with lower incomes. Black, Latinx and indigenous communities have highest asthma rates. They are also on the shoulder the heaviest burden asthma-related deaths and hospitalizations. Climate change is probably going worsen the incidence of asthma and consequently these disproportions.

I’m a professor of health law at the University of Villanova University, where I study whether patients can get the medications they need. I’m watching this affordability crisis closely.

In some ways, it shows what happens when legal and policy decisions are usually not aligned with public health needs. The excellent news, nevertheless, is that the political will finally appears to be there to limit the price of asthma drugs.

Why are inhaler prices rising rapidly?

In 2008, the US Food and Drug Administration ban inhalers that use chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs – which were once widely used as propellants – because they’ll damage the ozone layer. The FDA followed the timeline set out in an environmental treaty, the so-called Montreal Protocolratified by the United States in the late Nineteen Eighties.

Since 2009, CFC inhalers have been phased out and replaced with hydrofluoroalkane, or HFA, inhalers, that are more environmentally friendly. They are also rather more expensive. For insured patients, the average overall cost of an inhaler increased from $13.60 per prescription in 2004 to $25 immediately after the ban in 2008. present in a 2015 study.

Today, average retail price an albuterol inhaler costs $98. Unlike CFC inhalers which have generic versionsHFA inhalers can be found covered by patents. One sec the doctor himself has not modified, switching to a unique device has allowed firms to lift prices.

In 2020, the FDA gave final approval first general version albuterol inhaler. However, generic competition remains to be not strong enough to significantly reduce prices.

Patients with good insurance will pay little or no and even nothing. However, uninsured patients struggle with high market prices, and as of 2023 they have been over 25 million uninsured Americans. Even insured patients can have problems The CDC said they might afford asthma medications.

The same asthma drug that US patients pay huge amounts of cash for is offered elsewhere at much lower prices. Consider the following case involving inhalers. Pharmaceutical company Teva sells QVAR RediHalercorticosteroid inhaler, for $286 in United States

In Germany, Teva sells the same inhaler for $9.

I’m searching for medicines from Mexico and Canada

Some U.S. patients have gone abroad to get cheaper asthma medications. After the ban on the use of CFCs amongst patients was introduced in 2008, it became common visit border towns in Mexico buy albuterol inhalers. They were sold for from just $3 to $5.

A study of inhalers available to U.S. patients in Nogales, Mexico – about an hour south of Tucson, Arizona – found that Mexican products were generally comparable to US inhalers. However, researchers found some differences in effects, suggesting that American patients who use them may be receiving a rather different dose than usual.

There are also reports of Americans turning to Canadian pharmacies for asthma inhalers at much lower prices. In one case, a U.S. pharmacy would charge $857 for a three-month supply. The patient received it for $134 at a Canadian pharmacy.

One potential solution: importing cheaper drugs

American law has been around for a very long time forbidden personal import of pharmaceutical drugs. However, recent developments may pave the way for countries import cheaper asthma drugs.

In January 2024 Authorized by the FDA imports of certain pharmaceuticals from Canada for the first time. For nowthis authorization is proscribed to Florida and only covers drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS, prostate cancer and certain mental health conditions.

If the program proves successful, it could function a model for other states.

Another possible solution: price caps

Policymakers could also attempt to borrow a page from the insulin playbook. Insulin prices he had been climbing for nearly 20 years before Congress acted to cap the cost of insulin for Medicare patients. Year 2022 Act on reducing inflation set a $35 per 30 days out-of-pocket spending cap on prescription insulin products.

If this limit had been in place two years earlier, it could have saved 1.5 million Medicare patients about $500 a yr. was estimated in a recent study. It would also save Medicare $761 million.

An identical approach can be taken with asthma medications.

Congress could create an asthma provision just like the insulin case. It could also include provisions on asthma drug prices in a bigger piece of laws.

While this approach depends on the political environment, there are signs that the government is becoming more willing to act. In January 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services organized a gathering to debate the issue with manufacturers and other interested parties.

This is the starting. And – together with other measures – it offers hope that asthma medications may soon become more available to those in need.