Wait for inhalers a concern

An Albany mother says the hoarding of asthma medication has put her son’s life at risk as she faces a weeks-long wait for inhalers. Four-year-old Rhyder Brown has asthma and croup. He has about two weeks worth of medicine supplies left, but his mother, Kellie Murphy, says the wait for inhalers at Albany’s pharmacies is at least that long. “I’ve got a few friends who also have kids with really bad asthma and they can’t get anything at all either,” she said. “With Rhyder, it’s pretty bad. “As soon as the air changes it’s a matter of four to five minutes and he’s not breathing properly.” The mother-of-two took her children out of school last week in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak to minimise the risk of Rhyder being infected. “I understand most mums can’t do that, I fully get it, but being a cleaner and working for myself, I’m able to step back because I need to put him first,” she said. “You just can’t stress too much around the kids and you’ve got to keep going for them because they’ll worry even more.” Ms Murphy pleaded with locals to be considerate in this trying time. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said overwhelming demand had strained supplies to some community pharmacies. Last week, pharmacists were told to enforce new limits on prescription and over-the-counter medicines. Salbutamol inhalers provided on an over-the-counter basis — such as Ventolin, Asmol and Airomir puffers — are now subject to the tighter controls, which require pharmacists to confirm supply is appropriate according to the patient’s diagnosis and need.