The production of ozone-depleting substances is being phased out world wide under the terms of an international agreement called the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Since most of the metered-dose inhalers (MDIs) used to treat asthma that are available in the United States contain ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), many of these MDIs are being reformulated to no longer use CFCs. The reformulation effort is underway and several non-CFC products are currently approved and/or marketed for a range of different drugs.
There has been a great deal of concern that medicines needed to treat asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease will be removed from the market. CFC-MDIs will not be removed by action of the FDA until sufficient alternative medicines exist to serve the needs of patients and then these actions will only occur after public discussion.
For more information visit http://www.fda.gov/cder/mdi/default.htm. |
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