Top asthma drugs being restricted by the FDA

Recently the health advisors to the government have made a call to restrict some of the long acting drugs used for the treatment of Asthma. The panel managed to place restrictions on some of the most commonly used drugs to control Asthma but Advair managed to escape the prohibition.

Serevent and Foradil have long been used for the treatment of Asthma but the FDA has been advised to place a ban on the use of these drugs. This is because they have greater long term negative effects than the benefits they have to offer.

On the other hand Advair and Symbicort have been spared because the medical experts have adequate proof that they do not pose severe health risks and have ample amount of benefits to offer to asthma patients.

All four asthma medications contain a special ingredient that works as a long acting bronchodilator. This substance relaxes the muscles around the airways that get stressed during an asthma attack. The problem is that the same substance can trigger severe asthma attacks that can actually be life threatening.

The two medications that have been spared by the concerned authorities make use of another ingredient in combination with the long acting bronchodilator that neutralizes its negative effects. The medicines that have been banned however did not contain that second ingredient which posed health risks to the patients.

The major problem with Serevent and Foradil is that they may cause the patients to overdose on the medication thereby increasing the chances of developing harmful side effects. Dr. John Jenkins who happens to be the director of the FDA said that rather than benefiting the patients Servevent and Foradil may actually worsen the condition.

The in house drug safety experts of the FDA have proposed that the use of all four medications be restricted because they believe all of them pose a serious health threat to asthma patients.

With the FDA’s experts unable to come to a conclusion a large panel of outside advisors was called in so as to come to a conclusion regarding the medicines. The end result was the restriction of Foradil and Serevent and a green signal to Advair and Symbicort.