The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an advisory Friday saying patients should give up classical chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) - propelled inhalers, which are harmful for the Earth’s ozone layer, and switch to hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) inhalers, which are safe for the environment and are just as effective, although there are a few inconvenience.

Albuterol inhalers are used to treat shortness of breath in people suffering from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. According to Dr. Badrul Chowdhury, director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Division of Pulmonary and Allergy Products, there are 52 million prescriptions written for albuterol inhalers yearly in the U.S.

All patients using CFC-inhalers are urged to switch to HFA-inhalers, as the first ones won’t be available after December 31, 2008 anymore.

Dr. Chowdhury warned patients that the new devices “may taste and feel different than the current CFC inhalers.” Also, their spray may not be as powerful. Therefore, patients are urged to prime and to clean them regularly to ensure that the drug is properly reaching the lungs.

The bad news is that patients will spend approximately $20 more, as the prices of brand-name HFA inhalers range from about $29 to $65 at various pharmacies.

The albuterol HFA inhalers approved by the FDA include Teva Pharmaceutical Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's ProAir HFA, Schering-Plough Corp's Proventil HFA and GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Ventolin HFA.

The FDA decision to ban CFC-inhalers is the result of the U.S. Clean Air Act and an international treaty known as the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer.