Researchers Question Safety of Mist Inhalers For Delivering Common Drug For Chronic Lung Disease
Posted Jun 16 2011 6:57pm
People who use a mist inhaler to deliver a drug widely prescribed in more than 55 countries to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be 52 percent more likely to die, new Johns Hopkins-led research suggests.
The findings, published by BMJ, the British medical journal, raise concerns not only about the mist inhaler — a device that delivers the soluble form of the medication tiotropium — but also about the drug itself. The mist inhaler has not yet gained regulatory approval in the United States, but the drug in its powdered form is commonly used to treat COPD here.
“What we think is going on is that the mist inhaler is delivering a higher concentration of tiotropium than it should be and that may be increasing the risk of death,” says Sonal Singh, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of general internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the lead author of the study.
People who use a mist inhaler to deliver a drug widely prescribed in more than 55 countries to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be 52 percent more likely to die, new Johns Hopkins-led research suggests.
The findings, published by BMJ, the British medical journal, raise concerns not only about the mist inhaler — a device that delivers the soluble form of the medication tiotropium — but also about the drug itself. The mist inhaler has not yet gained regulatory approval in the United States, but the drug in its powdered form is commonly used to treat COPD here.
“What we think is going on is that the mist inhaler is delivering a higher concentration of tiotropium than it should be and that may be increasing the risk of death,” says Sonal Singh, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of general internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the lead author of the study.