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Viatris gets FDA nod for pupil dilation reversal agent

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Re: Viatris gets FDA nod for pupil dilation reversal agent

#21

Post by xkcd-sucks »

rjsw wrote: post #12
capableweb wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the FDA is a US-only institution. Full name is: U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

I was commenting on the original title, I meant that being unable to drive due to the after affects of some unknown procedure is a US specific thing.

It's a pretty common procedure worldwide; an ophthalmologist dilates the patient's pupils with eyedrops to be able to look inside them with a bright light and inspect for problems. Then afterwords the patient is sensitive to light for a few hours which impacts driving and everything else. Sunglasses work but the people most likely to see an eye doctor are those with glasses, and corrective sunglasses are pretty rare. Some eye doctors give out dark tinted face shield type things. The pupil-dilating drug is an anticholinergic like belladonna which has been known about for thousands of years (cf. name "belladonna" from the plant's use to dilate pupils as a cosmetic for "pretty ladies")

(typically an anticholinergic like beladonna which has been known about for thousands of years)

Re: Viatris gets FDA nod for pupil dilation reversal agent

#22

Post by Jtsummers »

rjsw wrote: post #20
Jtsummers wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is not, at least not since I've had my eyes dilated in exams (every year or every other for the past 25 years). OP was editorializing. There is no mandated minimum time between dilation and driving, though obviously people should be cautious if dilation strongly impacts their vision. For me, I'm usually back to "normal" (near vision still sucks, but I don't read books while driving; far vision is fine) by the time…

Why do you need your eyes dilated? It isn't something that is done in the UK.

My vision is very, very bad. Eye dilation is to allow the doctor to examine the retinas, in my case. Though as others have pointed out they're doing more digital imaging these days and that doesn't require dilation. My doctor now dilates my eyes every other year.

If your vision is normal (or not as abnormal as mine) and you aren't at high risk of various eye health issues (diabetic, family history, high blood pressure) then there's little need for dilation in an eye exam.

Re: Viatris gets FDA nod for pupil dilation reversal agent

#23

Post by xkcd-sucks »

rjsw wrote: post #20
Jtsummers wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is not, at least not since I've had my eyes dilated in exams (every year or every other for the past 25 years). OP was editorializing. There is no mandated minimum time between dilation and driving, though obviously people should be cautious if dilation strongly impacts their vision. For me, I'm usually back to "normal" (near vision still sucks, but I don't read books while driving; far vision is fine) by the time…

Why do you need your eyes dilated? It isn't something that is done in the UK.

It's considered good practice to get regular eye exams for catching problems inside the eye, and the most common way of doing an eye exam is by shining a bright light inside the eye and viewing it with a magnifier. The illumination only works if pupils can't accommodate. NB in the USA nobody I know does get regular eye exams but we should especially later in life because some types of macular degeneration can be slowed down somewhat with various therapies

Re: Viatris gets FDA nod for pupil dilation reversal agent

#24

Post by thewataccount »

jpk2f2 wrote: post #14
dkarl wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insurance doesn't cover it, so some doctors don't bother with it. I was caught by surprise when I tried out my wife's ophthalmologist. Dilation only, no option for a digital scan, my choices were get dilated or get out. I'm not going back there.

Interesting, my insurance covered it last year. However it was related to eye trauma rather than a regular vision visit, so perhaps that's why.

My understanding is that would be covered under medical insurance?

Re: Viatris gets FDA nod for pupil dilation reversal agent

#25

Post by BillSaysThis »

sokoloff wrote: post #3

At my most recent eye exam, I paid an extra $40 or so to have some kind of digital retinal imaging done (no dilation required) and the amount of detail the doctor could see was phenomenal to my eye (no pun intended). They were perhaps making more money on it, but seemed to push it as medically superior to the dilation and manual inspection process.

Optomap is the (commercial?) name for this. A previous Silicon Valley ophthalmologist I went to swore by it and I saw the value, given a family history of macular degeneration, but out here no one has the very expensive machine.

Re: Viatris gets FDA nod for pupil dilation reversal agent

#26

Post by jachee »

amluto wrote: post #13
icegreentea2 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's the study results: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05134974?tab=results They mostly only studied pupil diameter - there is one visual acuity test measurement (at normal lighting conditions) performed at 6 hours that maybe shows improvement.

So the effect on dilation is pretty large. Why doesn’t the headline say that? The accommodation results are indeed unimpressive.

Because the target audience of the headline isn’t patients, but investors.

Re: Viatris gets FDA nod for pupil dilation reversal agent

#27

Post by tssge »

Jtsummers wrote: post #6
ubermonkey wrote: post #2

There have been "reversal" drops for a while now, right? And with sufficiently dark sunglasses, driving is still not a problem.

The driving bit seems to have been some editorializing on the submitter's part, the title has been changed to match the article.

>For instance, pharmacologically-induced mydriasis causes sensitivity to light (photophobia) and blurred vision, which may make it difficult to read, work and drive.

The article content mentions driving though.

Re: Viatris gets FDA nod for pupil dilation reversal agent

#28

Post by Jtsummers »

thewataccount wrote: post #24
jpk2f2 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, my insurance covered it last year. However it was related to eye trauma rather than a regular vision visit, so perhaps that's why.

My understanding is that would be covered under medical insurance?

Yes, acute care for eye injuries (or potential injuries like to verify the eye is fine after it was hit) is covered under health insurance (in the US) and not typically covered by vision insurance. Vision insurance mostly covers your routine exams, glasses, and contacts. If you have a real health issue (glaucoma, macular degeneration, etc.) with your eyes and not a vision issue (myopia, presbyopia) then that's also covered under your health insurance and not your vision insurance.

Re: Viatris gets FDA nod for pupil dilation reversal agent

#29

Post by Jtsummers »

tssge wrote: post #27
Jtsummers wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The driving bit seems to have been some editorializing on the submitter's part, the title has been changed to match the article.

>For instance, pharmacologically-induced mydriasis causes sensitivity to light (photophobia) and blurred vision, which may make it difficult to read, work and drive. The article content mentions driving though.

Yeah, but the original submission title (not the title of the article nor clearly based on the article) implied that in the US people are not supposed to (as in by some medical rule) drive after having their eyes dilated. It was something like "Soon people in the US can drive after eye dilation". Considering plenty of people drive after eye dilation already and there is no rule barring it the title was weird and bordering on nonsensical editorializing.

Re: Viatris gets FDA nod for pupil dilation reversal agent

#30

Post by bdcravens »

ubermonkey wrote: post #2

There have been "reversal" drops for a while now, right? And with sufficiently dark sunglasses, driving is still not a problem.

You can drive with dilated pupils, but you may have a hard time reading signs or even reading your speedometer.
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