Health: Thirty per cent of people over 70 suffer from debilitating eye disease

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SANDRA DAVIS
Telegraph-Journal

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SAINT JOHN - The province is poised to save millions of dollars each year with the decision to make Lucentis available under the drug prescription program, says an advocacy group for people with visual impairments.

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Cindy Wilson/Telegraph-Journal

Minister of Health Mary Schryer, left, Horizon Health Network CEO Donald Peters and ophthalmologist Dr. Iva Smrz talk after announcing $300,000 in funding to purchase new retinal surgery equipment at St. Joseph’s Hospital.

"It will stop macular degeneration in its tracks," said Duncan Williams, CNIB's executive director for New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. He also said it would allow those affected to live independently.

A recent study commissioned by the Canadian Ophthalmological Society and CNIB reports that vision loss has a price tag of more than $426.6 million a year for New Brunswickers in health costs, lost productivity, care, rehab and assisting devices.

Macular degeneration is an eye condition that causes severe and rapid loss of central vision. Lucentis is used to treat "wet," age-related macular degeneration, a condition where blood vessels behind the retina start to grow and leak blood and fluid that damages the centre of the retina resulting in central vision loss.

"It is a frustrating condition to treat," retinal surgeon Dr. Dan Polya said. "Lucentis is a relatively new treatment which provides significant advantages to the patient."

Supply and Services Minister and Saint John Harbour MLA Dr. Ed Doherty - an ophthalmologist by profession - compared the Lucentis treatment to "medical welding.

"The drug is injected into the arm which goes through to the eye and a special laser is used to weld the small blood vessels," he explained on Monday morning when Health Minister Mary Schryer announced that, not only will the province cover the drug, it is also investing $300,000 to purchase new retinal surgery equipment.

The retinal surgery program was established earlier this year at St. Joseph's Hospital with an initial investment of $550,000 from the provincial government for ongoing operational costs and $90,000 from St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation for an optical coherence tomography machine.

About 150 New Brunswickers will benefit from the retinal surgery program each year while an estimated 230 residents will be eligible to receive Lucentis under the publicly funded drug program within the first year of availability.

Lucentis was approved for use in Canada two years ago and is the brand name for the drug Ranibizumab, which is delivered by injection in the arm every four to six weeks. The total cost of treatment with Lucentis could range from $10,000 to $15,000 per year.

"Until now, a diagnosis of wet AMD would almost certainly lead to significant vision loss or blindness," Williams said.

"Lucentis is the only treatment proven not only to arrest it, but to reverse its progression."

Thirty per cent of seniors over 70 will develop macular degeneration.