For asthma and allergy patients who often struggle for breath, the drug albuterol quickly opens airways and eases the tightness in their chest. But a critical nationwide shortage of liquid albuterol — the type used in nebulizers — is a major concern. Especially impacted are older people who use liquid albuterol because it’s cheaper than inhalers and is covered by Medicare. “I’ve had some of my patients start to complain in the office that they’re waiting, that the pharmacies don’t have the medication or else they have to wait for it. So this is concerning,” said Dr. Eric Sztejman of Virtua Health.
Problems escalated when Akorn, the drug’s main manufacturer, shut down plants, including one in Parsippany.
Laura Balsamini of Summit Health said they have created a chart listing other medications like levalbuterol that doctors could substitute, “preventing those gaps in treatment which can be critically significant for a patient really relying on this and preventing them from having to go to emergency rooms.”
