The National Campaign to Save CFC Asthma Inhalers
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Summary
In September 1997, the U.S. EPA forced through Decision IX/19 Part 5 at the Ninth Meeting of the Parties of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. This decision mandated the eventual ban of safe, effective chlorofluorocarbon-propelled (CFC) asthma inhalers internationally. This action was taken in order to 'restore the ozone layer', even though CFC inhaler emissions do not perceptibly harm the ozone layer.
Current Global Warming Czar (and former EPA Administrator) Carol Browner, and her boss, then Vice-President Al Gore, were the government officials primarily responsible for driving this decision through the Montreal Protocol, together with their allies in IPAC (the International Pharmaceutical Aerosol Consortium).
At the same time, the EPA ignored much more significant sources of ozone-depleting substances (ODS), due to the political power of the lobbies that wanted these other sources to be exempt from the ODS ban. For example, just four space shuttle launches inject more ODS directly into the ozone layer than all of the CFC inhalers used to treat asthma and COPD in the U.S. for a year. And space shuttle launches are not regulated by the Montreal Protocol. Neither is pesticide methyl bromide in its Quarantine/Pre-Shipment application (the spraying of produce shipped in wooden crates). The above two ODS uses were never regulated by the Montreal Protocol due to the powerful lobbies that demanded that they be exempt from the ODS ban.
America's 40 million asthma and pulmonary patients, on the other hand, had no similar lobby fighting for their rights. Instead, they had nine treacherous Patient Front Groups (the so-called 'U.S. Stakeholders' Group on MDI Transition'), heavily financed by IPAC (the drug companies), which continue to undermine and betray them to this day.
As a result of this unprecedented ban of safe, effective life-saving drugs for non-medical reasons, in January 2009, 40 million Americans were forced to begin using less effective, more dangerous 'ozone-friendly' hydrofluoroalkane-propelled (HFA) inhalers, resulting in a massive increase in pain, suffering and death among thousands of innocent men, women and children, all because of drug company greed and ridiculous ozone depletion hysteria (there is no evidence whatsoever that the negligible amounts of CFC inhaler emissions are capable of depleting the ozone layer, increasing ground UV-B levels, or increasing skin cancer rates).
Believe it or not, the FDA is now hard at work, together with IPAC (the drug companies) to come up with a NEW inhaler propellant to replace HFA propellant! Once again, the decision to tamper with lifesaving medications is being made based on insignificant environmental emissions and drug company greed.
We are expected to believe that this new decision to transition from HFA propellant (which replaced safe, effective CFC propellant), to a NEW propellant is happening due to the sudden realization by the EPA/FDA braintrust that HFA propellant is a severe global warmer- even though this was well known for decades. In other words, the decision to ban CFC inhalers and transition to HFA inhalers was made by 'experts' who obviously had no idea what they were doing.
It is worth noting that IPAC said in the early 1990s that there were only two possible replacements for CFC-11 and CFC-12 (namely, HFA-134a and HFA-227) after an exhaustive review of 15,000 potential propellants. We are now expected to believe them when they tell us that this new non-CFC, non-HFA miracle propellant will be safe and effective for patients to inhale for the rest of their lives.
Based on the inferior safety and effectiveness of HFA-propelled inhalers (which IPAC and its U.S. 'Stakeholder' propagandists assured us were just as safe and effective as CFC-propelled inhalers), only a fool would believe anything that IPAC says on this issue.
Bear in mind that IPAC and its U.S. Stakeholder propagandists opposed having the FDA mandate that large-scale, real-world, rigorous U.S. postmarketing studies of HFA inhalers be conducted before depriving 40 million patients of their life-saving CFC inhalers. (CFC inhalers have established an incredible track record of safety and effectiveness for over fifty years).
The reason that so many thousands of patients are suffering with HFA inhalers is because of the dozens of new, potentially dangerous inactive ingredients and high-tech components, which combine to form many new, potentially dangerous impurities (including, but not limited to by-products known as extractables and leachables), which are unique to different inhalers.
Whenever you hear or read a comment from a physician, pharmacist, or patient 'advocate' to the effect that 'HFA inhalers have the same active ingredients as CFC inhalers' (which is basically true), 'but only the propellant is different' (which is absolutely false), understand that you are hearing the propaganda of a paid liar, or someone who simply has no idea what he or she is talking about.
Every time the drug companies reformulate a new propellant in an old inhaler they get a new patent that gives them the right to charge brand prices over 300% greater than the generic prices they'd otherwise get once the original patents ran out on the old inhaler. This is why IPAC was formed in 1988, in the opinion of most observers: to gouge asthma and pulmonary patients when their CFC inhaler patents were about to expire, under the guise of environmentalism provided by the Montreal Protocol.
CFC inhaler emissions world-wide, at their peak production, accounted for less than .5% of total CFC emissions from all sources. There was no mandate by the Montreal Protocol to ban CFC inhalers when IPAC began to research and develop replacement inhalers in 1988. IPAC, together with the EPA, orchestrated the Montreal Protocol's decision to ban CFC inhalers- it was not the other way around. IPAC can easily settle this point by citing the 1987 or 1988 decision of the Montreal Protocol that they believe forced them to begin working on a replacement for CFC inhalers. There was no such decision.
Asthma Inhalers are a Medical Issue, Not an Environmental Issue.
Asthma and pulmonary patients will fight to keep the U.S. from voting for or abiding by any agreement or treaty that mandates the transition to any other medical propellant.
We will fight to have Congress amend the Clean Air Act to permanently legalize the safe, reliable, effective CFC inhalers that most patients need for optimal health and quality of life.
We will expose the lies and corruption of every phony environmental organization, physician's organization, drug company, and patient front group that stands in our way.
If you are infuriated and outraged by the U.S. Government's arrogant abuse of power at the expense of its citizens' lives, health and safety- join our campaign today.
The National Campaign to Save CFC Asthma Inhalers
sponsor@SaveCFCinhalers.org
SaveCFCinhalers.org
800-284-4619
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