Nasacort HFA

The Nasacort HFA Inhaler has been approved by the FDA. This new product uses hydrofluoroalkane (HFA), rather than chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) to propel the dry steroid into the nasal chamber. In the past I have had good success using steroid nasal inhalers (Rhinocort and Nasacort), but the steroid nasal sprays do little if any good. Accordingly, I am interesting in being able to purchase the inhalers again. I have long ago used up my secret stash of them, acquired before they took them off of the market because they contained environmentally unfriendly CFCs.  I have been saving the one I have left.

In January of 2005, correspondent Dale wrote Aventis asking when Nasacort HFA would be brought to market.  The response he got was:

Nasacort HFA was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on April 7, 2004;
however, it is still not commercially available. The company is expecting to launch Nasacort HFA
Nasal Aerosol in Q3 2005, in time for the fall allergy season.

Well damn, where is the "support" in "web support?" What is so secret about the plan benefits that the amount of a copay cannot be sent in email? I asked these questions in my reply, and attached one of the several recent documents about our plan's Rx benefits that the university has EMAILED to all faculty and staff. Guess what the response was? Yes, the exact same form letter that I got before. It appears that AdvancePCS manages all queries by simply sending out a form letter that says HIPPA won't allow us to answer this question. I asked our Health Benefits people on campus about this, and they suggested that AdvancePCS is just using HIPPA as an excuse to justify their laziness.

So, I call AdvancePCS on the phone and ask my query. They tell me that the plan will not cover it because it is not in their database yet. I asked them how long it takes for a new drug to get into their database. They tell me "We can't answer that question." I ask "6 months, 12 months, two years, longer?" and they reply "We can't answer that question."

I posted a query to Aventis, manufacturer of Nasacort HFA, asking when I could expect to find Nasacort HFA available for purchase. They never responded to my query, but they did respond to an identical query from one of my correspondents, saying that Nasacort HFA should be available near the end of 2004.  It never made it to the list of approved drugs for my health plan, so I don't know whether or not it ever made it to the shelves of pharmacies.

Contact Information for the Webmaster,
Dr. Karl L. Wuensch

This page most recently revised on 4. July 2008.