Cheap, generic albuterol inhalers for asthma are being phased out in favor of more expensive, more environmentally friendly, inhalers.

Patients, however, are bearing the brunt of the cost, with what used to cost less than $10 now costing several times more.

This country doctor relates a story of one his patients who injected himself with epinephrine for his asthma attacks. “When his asthma kicked in,” the brave doctor who refilled the prescription writes, “he would roll up his sleeve and give himself a shot in the arm with adrenaline.”

That, my friends, takes serious balls, and I doubt we’ll be seeing doctors prescribe IM epinephrine for asthma anytime soon.

But with the recession being what it is, never say never.