Why your asthma inhaler is so expensive (in the US)

A little under 10% of the US population suffers from asthma. The good news is we have highly effective treatments. The bad news is that despite these treatments being decades old, they're shockingly expensive in the US as the result of a really bad interaction between the ozone hole, the patent system, the way drugs get priced, and the profit-seeking behavior of drug companies. Note: This post is really just about the US; the situation is different in other countries, which often have robust price controls. Asthma and Asthma Treatment # Asthma is an inflammatory disease in which the patient's airways constrict, often in response to some trigger such as exercise, allergy, or illness, leading to difficulty breathing. There are two front-line treatments for asthma: β2-agonists such as albuterol/salbutamol that induce the muscles of the airway to relax. Corticosteroids such as fluticasone that reduce inflammation in the airways. These treatments work together, in that some β2-agonists are…