albuterol (PROVENTIL, VENTOLIN)

Drug and Dietary Supplement Profiles

A comprehensive review of the safety and effectiveness of this drug. If the drug is not a Do Not Use product, information on adverse effects, drug interactions and how to use the medication are included.

Search results below include drug profiles where your selected drug is a primary subject of discussion

Disease and Drug Family Information

Search results below include Disease and Drug Family Information where your selected drug is a primary subject of discussion

Allergy and Hayfever [hide all summaries]
If you suffer from an itchy and runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing, and a tickle in the back of your throat, then you probably have an allergy. An allergy means a hypersensitivity to a particular substance called an allergen. Hypersensitivity means that the body’s immune system, which defends against infection, disease, and foreign bodies, reacts inappropriately to the allergen. Examples of common allergens are pollen, mold, ragweed, dust, feathers, cat hair, makeup, walnuts, aspirin, shellfish, poison ivy, and chocolate.

Asthma, Chronic Bronchitis and Emphysema [hide all summaries]
Do not try to diagnose or treat yourself. Asthma, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema must be diagnosed and treated by a doctor or other health professional. Two other common conditions that cause breathing difficulties, congestive heart failure and pneumonia, have similar symptoms, and many of the drugs used to treat asthma or COPD may worsen these conditions. Therefore, it is extremely important that you have your condition properly diagnosed before starting any medication.

Worst Pills, Best Pills Newsletter Articles

Search results below include Worst Pills, Best Pills Newsletter Articles where your selected drug is a primary subject of discussion

Advice for Patients: New Inhaler Propellants to Replace CFC Inhalers [hide all summaries]
(August 2008)
With the imminent demise of CFC-propelled albuterol asthma inhalers and the substitution of HFA (hydroflouroalkane)as a more environmentally-friendly propellant, two sets of problems arise. First, and the main subject of this article, are differences between the old and new propellants that require special attention by asthmatics using the new HFA asthma inhalers because they may clog more easily than the older CFC-containing ones. The second problem is cost in that less expensive generic versions of the HFA inhalers will not be available until 2010 and the half-as-expensive generic CFC albuterol inhalers will not be manufactured or sold after December 31, 2008.

A Review of Levalbuterol (XOPENEX HFA) Inhaler for Asthma [hide all summaries]
(February 2007)
If you are presently using albuterol and your asthma is adequately controlled, there is no medical reason why you should be switched to levalbuterol. There is no convincing evidence that it is any safer or more effective than the older, much less expensive short-acting beta agonist, albuterol.

Selling New Drugs Using Smoke and Mirror (Images) [hide all summaries]
(March 2003)
You should avoid these "new" single mirror images of old drugs, not out of concern about their safety or effectiveness, but because they are the same as the old drugs. In the long run, they cause economic harm both to individuals and to the health care system because they have come on the market with extended monopoly protection. Article lists some examples.

Additional Information from Public Citizen

Search results below include Additional Information from Public Citizen where your selected drug is a primary subject of discussion

Letter to HHS that supports a criminal investigation of Schering-Plough based on the possibility that the company knowingly shipped millions of asthma drug inhalers that may not have contained any active ingredients. (HRG Publication #1586) [hide all summaries]
As can be seen on the chart below, there were no deaths reported to the FDA to have occurred in users of Proventil or Warrick’s albuterol (generic version also manufactured by Schering-Plough) during the first three quarters of 1998. However, starting with a death that occurred in the fourth quarter of 1998 and continuing through the second quarter of 2000, there were a total of 17 deaths for which the Schering-Plough albuterol was listed as the primary suspect and in which there is a date of death.

Request to HHS to investigate charges against Schering-Plough for possibly knowingly shipping millions of asthma drug inhalers that may not have contained any active ingredient (HRG Publication #1559) [hide all summaries]
We urge you to launch an investigation into criminal charges against Schering-Plough based on the possibility that the company knowingly shipped millions of the 59 million units of albuterol-containing asthma drug eventually recalled between the time the company became aware of the seriously flawed manufacturing processes and the time the recall was finally accomplished.

Drug Recalls