FDA Information About Phaseout of CFC Products

Member experts from the Airways Disorders NetWork participated in a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) teleconference titled, “Asthma and COPD Inhalers That Contain Ozone-Depleting CFCs” on April 13, 2010.

The US FDA announced that, in accordance with the long-standing US obligations under The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, seven metered-dose inhalers used to treat asthma and COPD will be gradually removed from the US marketplace. These inhalers contain ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are propellants that move medication out of the inhaler and into the lungs of patients. Alternative medications that do not contain CFCs are available.