FDA Oks Diabetic Retinopathy Treatment

The first treatment has been approved for diabetic retinopathy, reports Deeba Husain, MD. The FDA recently approved injections of the drug Lucentis-also used to treat macular degeneration in older adults-for diabetic retinopathy in patients with macular edema (swelling that occurs when fluid builds up in the eye). Diabetic retinopathy, which causes bleeding and/or abnormal blood-vessel growth in the retina, is the leading cause of blindness in Americans with diabetes.

Deeba Husain, MD, a retina specialist and associate professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, Boston.