From what my doctor said, it's not that she thinks other medications don't exist or wouldn't work. It's that she can't prescribe them because nobody's selling them in the U.S. There are some changes to what's being allowed for inhaled medications, and the people who used to make alupent (and other alternatives to albuterol) seem to have decided that there's insufficient profit in making the required changes in order to legally sell their product. If nobody's selling it, I'm out of luck.
It doesn't help that our prescription coverage is more and more pressuring patients and doctors toward using only specific medications for given problems. In some cases, insurers will only pay for one particular medication for a given chronic problem. In other cases, insurers require patients to pay more for less commonly used or newer medications. I've run into the latter for GERD, asthma and migraines. I believe my insurance also does that for cholesterol medications, blood pressure medications and diabetes medications.
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Date: 2008-12-24 06:19 pm (UTC)It doesn't help that our prescription coverage is more and more pressuring patients and doctors toward using only specific medications for given problems. In some cases, insurers will only pay for one particular medication for a given chronic problem. In other cases, insurers require patients to pay more for less commonly used or newer medications. I've run into the latter for GERD, asthma and migraines. I believe my insurance also does that for cholesterol medications, blood pressure medications and diabetes medications.