The drug visudyne is needed for a special type of laser treatment in patients who have a leak in their yellow spot. “The vision is affected by this condition. About 700 patients in our country have this serious eye disease,” says Camiel Boon, ophthalmologist at Amsterdam UMC and LUMC.
Boon treats patients with this eye disease. “The vast majority are men between the ages of 40 and 45. People who are in the middle of life.”
Uncertain period
They are completely dependent on this drug and are facing an uncertain period, says Boon. “There are a lot of questions. I’m being called flat, some are really in sackcloth.”
The consequences can be serious, says the ophthalmologist. “When these patients can no longer be treated with the drug, this can lead to severe visual impairment and permanent eye damage. In an exception, even blindness.”
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Visudyne is infused into the patient through an IV in special eye clinics. “Once in the eye, we perform a specific laser treatment that stops the fluid leakage in the yellow spot. This allows the patient to see better again.”
Cause unclear
It is completely unclear to Boon what the reason for the production problems is. “That’s very frustrating.”
The Nederlands Oogheelkundig Gezelschap (NOG) has drawn up a procedure for ophthalmologists to use the Visudyne that is still available as well and fairly as possible. This will help the patients who need this medicine as best as possible under the given circumstances. “We can now really only treat the patients with the worst problems. It is very crude.”
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First quarter
The drug is expected to be available again in the first quarter of next year. Tens of thousands of people worldwide are dependent on the drug. Attempts to obtain the eye drug elsewhere have so far failed.
The outgoing cabinet regrets the deficit that has arisen and says it will remain in contact with the parties involved. “Should production in the Netherlands turn out to be possible, I will do my best to facilitate this,” the cabinet writes in a letter to the House of Representatives.
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