Flovent, a popular inhaler that has been used to treat asthma for the last 25 years, is disappearing from pharmacy shelves, leaving patients and doctors scrambling to find the medication they need in order to breathe.
The drug company, GlaxoSmithKline, discontinued the medication at the end of December. Keyes Drug store in Newton got their final shipment at the end of January and now there are just two left on the shelves.
“(We) definitely expect to run out soon. There’s like one left of each strength,” Keyes pharmacist Maryana Rodriguez said. “The highest strength hasn’t been available in a while.”
CDC data shows that 10% of adults and 13% of children in Massachusetts have asthma. Boston Medical Center pediatric pulmonologist Robyn Cohen said the generic version replacing Flovent is even more expensive for insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers to use.
“There are a lot of insurance companies that aren’t covering it,” Cohen said. “This is winter respiratory virus season. It’s flu season, the number one trigger for asthma exacerbations in children. And now suddenly families can’t get the preventive medication that they need for their children.”
Meanwhile, Cohen added that one of the only two alternatives for children – Asmanex – is on backorder and hasn’t been available since mid-January.
“Flovent was very commonly prescribed to both children and adults. So it spans the entire spectrum,” Tufts Medical Center pulmonary physician Jeremy Weinberger said. “We wish that drug companies were just motivated by what’s best for the patients. But unfortunately, a lot of it comes down to what’s the bottom line and cost.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent this letter to the pharmaceutical giant Monday, accusing them of “price gouging” to avoid new government regulations, which fine companies when price increases for medications outpace inflation.
“For years, GSK has avoided accountability for aggressive price hikes on their life-saving drugs, and now, just ahead of allergy season, they’ve effectively ripped a go-to inhaler out of the hands of kids,” Sen. Warren said in a statement. “This is a shameful money grab that puts millions of children at risk. I’m pushing them for answers.”
A GSK spokesperson confirmed they got the letter and plan to respond.
“We made a business decision to launch Authorized Generics for Flovent HFA and Flovent Diskus as to way to help ensure patients continue to have access to these important medicines, potentially at a lower cost, knowing that we had been planning to discontinue the branded products for some time,” the spokesperson said via email. “The authorized generic contains the same medicine, in the same familiar device, and with the same instructions for use as Flovent HFA.”
Experts say families struggling with this should talk to their doctor or pharmacist, since different medications work differently for everyone.
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