Today's hurdle in the path...

The FDA is NOT AWESOME!!

I have asthma. It is very non-awesome. But today to add insult to injury, I found that the FDA has mandated that the CFC (chlorofluorocarbons) used in most asthma inhalers are ruining the environment. Therefore, they have implemented that the inhalers that I and many others have relied on for years be substituted with an HFA (hydrofluoroalkane) inhaler instead.
Now to the layperson not familiar to the plight on asthmatics this may not sound like a very big deal...but it gets worse.

HFA inhalers do not grant the same sensation of respiratory relief as the older CFC inhalers. Click on the link to view a demonstration of the 2 types of inhalers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_OL6TVvam0 Although there is plenty of FDA data to support that there is no difference in the functionality of the inhalers, you need to merely type "HFA inhalers suck" in to a search engine, and you will find countless masses that share my contempt for the new medication.

I am all about supporting green causes: I recycle, I take my own bags to the grocery store, I let my [hippie] friends listen to the occasional Widespread Panic (resoundingly not awesome) song on the jukebox while out at the neighborhood bar. But this federally sanctioned change to a medication is quite simply ridiculous. It is like putting a band aid on a severed leg...not really going to fix the problem. When you are gasping for air due to a severe asthma attack, that quick relief from asphyxiation is much more pressing than the potential damage to the ozone layer. When given this choice, I vote that the ozone can kiss the middle part of my posterior.
And the final kick to the stones is that now that the CFC inhalers are no longer available, asthmatics have to purchase the HFA inhalers with a too-convenient 400% price increase (that is with my insurance coverage) from their predecessors. Makes sense to me: Lesser product, higher cost to the consumer!??!!