The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to swallow respiratory disease medications meant for inhalation after it received several reports related to it.

Respiratory drugs Spiriva and Foradil capsules are used to ease breathing in patients with asthma and chronic obstructive lung disease. But FDA said it received several reports of the capsules being swallowed.

The federal agency is now warning consumers that the drugs are only effective if they are inhaled through the Spiriva HandiHaler or Foradil Aerolizer, which were designed to deliver these drugs. They can also be used in patients suffering from chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

However, there were no reports of serious side effects in the patients who swallowed the capsules, the agency reported. The federal agency urged the doctors, nurses and pharmacists to discuss the correct ways to use the medicines with patients.

If a patient who is prescribed Spiriva or Foradil does not experience breathing improvement, the health care provider should ask the patient if he or she is swallowing the medicine rather than inhaling it.

Developed by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., Spiriva is also marketed by Pfizer Inc. Foradil is manufactured by Novartis AG and marketed in the United States by Schering-Plough Corp.