Advair and Asthma

Advair is one of the world?s top-selling Asthma medications. Although there is currently no cure for asthma, Advair is used to decrease the severity of the condition and to manage its symptoms.

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Asthma is a disease of the respiratory system in which the airways constrict, become inflamed, and are lined with excessive amounts of mucus. This occurs in response to one or more ?triggers,? such as exposure to an environmental stimulant (allergens or viruses), cold air, exercise, or emotional stress. Common symptoms of asthma are difficulty breathing- including wheezing and shortness of breath, tightness of the chest, and coughing. Asthma attacks can occur at any time, even during sleep. They can last anywhere from a few minutes to a week or more. Some asthma sufferers experience frequent attacks, while other experience symptoms once every few years.

Symptoms occur due to an abnormal immune response in the bronchial airways of people who are hypersensitive to certain internal or external stimuli. The most common triggers of an asthma attack are allergens. When an allergen (pollen, dust, smoke) is inhaled, it is ingested in the airways or lungs by a type of cell called an antigen presenting cell (APC). Immune cells usually ignore the allergens, but in asthmatics, certain immune cells are attracted to the allergens. These immune cells - for reasons not yet fully understood by scientists - slightly morph and activate the secretion of antibodies. The antibodies then flag the allergens for destruction, but in doing so the antibodies cause the bronchial passages to become inflamed by inducing the production of chemicals that cause the airways to constrict and release an excessive amount of mucus.

Contact us regarding Advair; attorney consultations are free.

Advair is an asthma medication fashioned from the combination of two drugs developed by the world's largest pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline. Fluticasone, also known by its commercial names Flovent and Flonase, is the glucocorticoid component of Advair. It works to calm the symptoms of asthma by inhibiting the production or secretion of the chemicals that cause the airways to inflame. Salmeterol (also known by its commercial name, Serevent), the other component of Advair, is a beta2-adrenergic receptor agonist drug that essentially acts as a localized muscle relaxant, specifically relaxing the smooth muscles of the bronchial passages. This allows air to flow more freely in and out of the lungs. Advair is supposed to be prescribed only as a last-resort asthma medication after low-dose or medium-dose corticosteriods fail to control the patient?s asthma.

Advair has recently fallen under scrutiny due to studies connecting Advair?s salmeterol component to an increased risk of respiratory death. Most recently, a joint study conducted by Cornell and Stanford Universities claimed that inhaled forms of salmeterol and other regularly inhaled long-acting beta-agonists caused twice as many asthma-related deaths than the placebo administered in the study. Clinical trials of salmeterol have also indicated that the drug may cause the greatest risk to African-American asthmatics.

If you or a family member have experienced an injury due to use of the asthma medications Advair or Serevent and would like to speak to an attorney regarding your rights, please fill out this short form and an experienced member of Seeger Weiss?s legal staff will contact you. Initial attorney consultations are free of charge and do not create an attorney-client relationship. Seeger Weiss, LLP is one of the nation?s leading complex litigation and class action law firms. Seeger Weiss, LLP has offices located in both New York and New Jersey and its attorneys are licensed to practice across the country.