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Admin Law Hfa Mdis Preliminary Ideas

Good Essays

1. Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Administration: While I’m not asthmatic, I do follow continual government regulation. However, I’ve quite interested in how government regulations affect healthcare and the cost thereof for consumers. The new regulation is actually a planned amplification of previous regulations regarding clorofluorocarbon (CFC) use in metered-dose inhalers (MDI), where, as of 14 April 2010, seven more metered-dose inhalers will be phased out and replaced with hydrofloroalkanes (HFA) inhalers.

I do not expect this increased regulation to adversely affect me; however, the increased costs to consumers worries me. The affected products are especially used by lower-income individuals who must now pay …show more content…

Case in point, science has repeatedly measured and shown the damage coal and gasoline-powered emissions cause to the atmosphere; however, neither agency seeks to eliminate these energy sources, even though their effect is clear. I understand the reasons for that hypocrisy, but I’m astounded that the US government would essentially ignore those energy sources’ effects but specifically target a small number of products that actually save lives.

Additionally, these new regulations will adversely affect MDI consumers and contribute to increased costs of healthcare. Currently, no generic alternative exists for HFA MDIs, which means that all MDI consumers must pay significantly more for treating their asthma or pulmonary ailments. While this may not matter to more affluent consumers, it does to low-income and fixed-income consumers. Those are also the two market segments that draw the most from healthcare and contribute to increased healthcare costs.

I am not opposed to providing alternatives and incentivizing changes from CFC to HFA MDIs, but I do oppose arbitrarily eliminating, even phasing out, cost-effective treatments. Phasing these products out will likely contribute little to “saving the environment” but will contribute directly and quickly to rising healthcare costs for individuals and, eventually, the country.

Before the US government regulates in

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