Doctors Link Elmiron With Macular Degeneration In Long-Term Users

Elmiron patient's eye damage has gone unchecked for decades and misdiagnosed as retinal dystrophy, a condition common among the elderly

Thursday, August 13, 2020 - Science Daily.com recently investigated patients that complained that their bladder discomfort drug Elmiron caused them to develop permanent eyesight damage. Over 1 million women in America suffer from chronic pain in the bladder and pelvis called Interstitial Cystitis (IC). Doctors have been prescribing Elmiron to their patients for over a decade to treat this specific pain. Elmiron is manufactured by Janssen Pharmaceuticals and is the only drug approved by the US FDA to treat IC pain. Janssen Pharmaceuticals has enjoyed a monopoly as the only FDA approved drug to treat IC. IC users have been taking Elmiron for decades and in ever-increasing quantities. As a result, toxic amounts of Elmiron have accumulated in patient's tissues including those surrounding and protecting the eye. Elmiron doctors alarmed at the high number of patients complaining of eyesight problems discovered the connection between long-term Elmiron users and their patient's eyesight deterioration. In particular, it appears that Elmiron users develop "unusual changes in their macula, the central part of the retina responsible for delivering clear, crisp, central vision," according to Science Daily.

Doctors studying Elmiron macular degeneration report that most of their long-term patients show signs of Elmiron drug toxicity. Robin A. Vora, M.D, an ophthalmologist at Kaiser Permanente, and a group of other eye doctors, studied IC patients and reported: "You have a patient with a chronic condition like interstitial cystitis, for which there is no cure and no effective treatment. They get put on these medications because it's thought to have few side effects and few risks, and no one thinks about it again. And year after year, the number of pills they're taking goes up and up," according to Science Daily. If you have been taking Elmiron and have experienced vision problems you should speak with an Elmiron Macular Degeneration Lawyer to see if you may file a claim against Janssen.

Janssen Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Elmiron, is being accused of failing to warn patients of what they knew or should have known about Elmiron's toxicity buildup resulting in the side effect of causing eyesight damage. Drugwatch.com describes the link between using Elmiron and developing irreversible eye damage. "Elmiron may cause damage to a part of the retina called the macula, causing vision problems. The type of maculopathy linked to Elmiron is called pigmentary maculopathy. According to studies, this type of maculopathy seems to be unique to Elmiron users." Elmiron patients are filing lawsuits against Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, for failing to warn them of the potential for the drug to cause their blindness.

Ophthalmologists recommend that Elmiron patients see their eye doctors at least once per year for signs of eye damage and if should discontinue the medication if a problem appears. Doctors report that early diagnosis and treatment of maculopathy is essential to treat the condition, and that waiting too long could result in permanent eye damage and blindness.

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