AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - Liquid Albuterol has been difficult to find lately and the lack of supply could worsen.
The medications largest manufacturer, Akorn, filed for bankruptcy and shut down some of their facilities last month putting pressure on other manufactures to produce albuterol.
Liquid albuterol is most commonly used in breathing treatments to treat asthma, RSV and other respiratory issues.
“It’s a definite supply chain problem. A major player in a situation like that suddenly is no longer in there. We don’t have the redundancy in the manufacturing process to just make up that gap all of a sudden,” said Rodney Young, M.D., Texas Tech Physicians Family Medicine Physician.
Dr. Young says this can impact more than asthmatic people but can impact many who contract a respiratory illness.
“Anybody with airway hyperreactivity, could happen. So sometimes there are wheezing illnesses for patients that don’t have asthma, that maybe get a viral infection or bronchitis or something where they might benefit now, more often than not those patients can be treated with the inhaler formulations and get those benefits,” said Dr. Young.
Some pharmacies say they are now being limited to how much albuterol they can order, along with other alternative medicines such as Duoneb.
Doctors and pharmacist suggest to use an albuterol inhaler with a spacer attachment to help mimic a breathing treatment.
“That helps to ensure as much of that medicine as possible mix it down into the lungs where it can have its effect and doesn’t stick to the tissues of the mouth because it came out forcefully from an inhaler up close,” said Dr. Young.
Dr. Young says to take precautions to avoid asthma triggers if possible with preventative controller medications regularly to decrease of a flareups.
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