Albuterol running low for infants

A shortage of medication used to treat asthma and respiratory symptoms is continuing to affect hospitals and pharmacies.

The asthma medication albuterol was added to the shortage list by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in October 2022.

Last month, the generic drug manufacture Akron Pharmaceuticals shut down its operations in the U.S., leaving Nephron Pharmaceuticals as the sole producer of their medication.

Albuterol can be taken through an inhaler or as a solution given through a nebulizer machine.

Local pharmacist David Roy says it is the infants who will be affected the most. “It’s still available in the inhaler form, the mist that you have to breathe in that’s portable. But as far as infants who get the nebulizer solution that’s where we are having a major shortage on, or people who are kind of homebound and don’t have access to the portable inhalers, they’re the ones mostly affected by it.”

Roy advises those with asthma related symptoms to stay on top of their therapy and not wait until the last minute to avoid going to outside pharmacies for medication.