Two of the study coauthors, Bradley Chipps, MD and AANMA Patient Advocate Sandra Fusco-Walker, presented the results at the annual ACAAI conference in New Orleans in November.

"MDI package inserts caution patients to discard the device after using the labeled number of doses even though contents remain in the canister," according to Bradley Chipps, MD., FCCP, Medical Director, Capital Allergy & Respiratory Disease Center, Sacramento, CA. "After that point, the quality of each puff cannot be assured, a fact few patients understand." Fusco-Walker told reporters, "There are four of us in the family who occasionally use bronchodilators. None of us knows exactly how many sprays we've used, how many remain, or if we are running on empty. How could we? There is no reliable or affordable way to keep on track."

Robert J. Meyer, MD, director of the Office of Drug Evaluation II at the Food and Drug Administration, says, "This sort of important survey information points out how very helpful it would be for manufacturers to routinely incorporate dose counters into their MDIs. I think this work gives added weight to the guidance FDA has recently provided, encouraging manufacturers to make dose counters or dose indicators a part of their new MDI development plans."

The educational research grant was provided by Sepracor. For more information see our press release or call 800-878-4403.

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For information or an advocacy packet to initiate laws in your state, please contact Sandra Fusco-Walker at 800.729.3804.