I'm an asthmatic all my life and I know the price of ventolin is controlled… ie. it was $5 like 30yrs ago and now its $6.50 etc.
However Ventolin, while still useful, has been moved aside for preventers like Pulmicort. Unfortuately this is $35 a unit.
I wonder what is going on here? WIth 1 in 4 Australians being asthmatic I suppose this is a fair burden.
In short, salbutamol (ventolin) is a short acting drug specifically used to relieve the symptoms asthma by dilating the airways that are blocked/occluded during such attack and in no way should be used on a daily basis to control asthma. Research shows that long term treatment of asthma with salbutamol results in what we call desensitization. In short, eventually you'll require more and more ventolin to treat the same symptoms due to continuous usage (source) . Budesonide (Pulmicort) on the otherhand contains a corticosteroid which has a multitude of actions but most importantly, the suppression of inflammation in the airways that is seen in asthma. Corticosteroids are useful as they generally don't lead to desensitization and thus are used to prevent asthma/asthmatic attacks. Other preventers such as Symbicort (Budesonide + Formoterol) and Seretide (Fluticasone + Salmeterol) contain a corticosteroid and on top of that a long acting B2 agonst (compared to salbutamol which is a short acting B2 agonist) which does not cause desensitization.
The reason for the price difference is that drugs that hit the market usually have a 10 year patent on them which means no other companies are allowed to make and sell that particular molecule. Additionally, the pharmaceutical companies also own patents on their particular devices. This basically means that pharmaceutical companies are able to dictate the price of which the medication. A lot of money goes towards developing that drug that is safe to be on the market and pharmaceutical companies also try to recuperate the cost of clinical trials, previous molecules that never made it through the trials which is reflected in the cost of the medication.
For example Pulmicort costs the consumer $38.80 in Australia with a medicare card and $37.80 with the $1 discount recently introduced into pharmacies. Here you can see that without a medicare card it would cost $40.99. We are lucky in Australia as the government will subsides all PBS medications above $38.80 meaning that is the maximum price a consumer with a medicare card would have to pay for a PBS listed medication. The price you pay at the pharmacy for medications may not be a real presentation of the actual cost so whilst the $35 that you say you pay for the unit may seem like a lot, it is actually not the case.
Sorry I got a bit carried away and may have given a bit too much information.
TLDR: Don't use Ventolin to control asthma as this will lead to desensitization and requiring you to use more of it later on. You should speak to your GP if your find that you are using the ventolin more and more or your asthma is currently not under control. The price discrepancy you see between preventers and relievers is mainly dictated by the pharmaceutical companies who own patents for both the drug and device. The actual cost of the medication could be more than the price you pay at the pharmacy so we should be grateful for that even if it seems like a lot of money at the time.
I havent used ventolin in 2yrs. Been on pulmicort all this time. Now its back to winter, I'm on ventolin a bit.
I'm just saying that there just seems to be a huge price discrepancy and I guess if western countries are paying $40 then I guess people in the 3rd world got no hope.
I get what you mean. The huge price discrepancy is because the pharmaceutical companies own the patents on the drugs and devices and can basically monopolize/set their own prices. These drugs have been out for a really long time so they should have made all their money back by now but because no one else is allowed to make it, they don't have to drop the price. Another example is Epipen, a life saving drug for anaphylaxis (eg. those really severe peanut allergies you see in movies) costs $100 each without a medicare card (single use, cost even more in America I hear). Seems like a shitty thing to do but because they're the only ones who can make it and it's something that people need they can charge whatever they want.
If you are requiring Ventolin even though you are using your preventer you should go back to your doctor. Work out an asthma action plan (one that likely will include a laba for winter months) so you can reduce reliever use.
Great explanation!
I have asthma too and used to take the Seretide as a preventer and the Ventolin when needed.
They my doc said to try a med called Breo. I only take it in the morning, and it is the only med I am taking, and I think it is pretty good. It is also better for me because the Seretide in the evening caused palpitations, making my insomnia even worse.
They are completely different medications and should not be replacing each other. Go talk to your gp or pharmacist and get an asthma action plan.