Urologists Prescribing Elmiron Should Warn Patients That Eyesight Damage Could Result

The word about the toxicity of anti-interstitial cystitis drug Elmiron is gradually getting to physicians that prescribe it and the patients who take it.

Tuesday, August 24, 2021 - According to a survey conducted by UCLA, people that quit taking the drug do so out of concern about developing macular degeneration and maculopathy, the technical terms for night vision impairment. Women who have developed eyesight damage allegedly from taking Elmiron say that had they known about Elmiron vision damage, they would have sought a safer form of treatment. Another description is pigmentary maculopathy when dark spots develop on the retina in the back of the eye, the part of the eye that that controls center focus and allows light in. The American Academy of Opthalmology describes the importance of the retina. "The retina is the layer of cells lining the back wall inside the eye. This layer senses light and sends signals to the brain so you can see." Taking the IC drug Elmiron permanently and irreversibly damages the retina and gradually destroy one's vision. Maculopathy was once assumed to be age-related, but doctors now know it is caused more by taking PPS than anything else. According to the UCLA study, patients stop taking Elmiron when they learn that they have vision damage. Unfortunately, however, stopping taking the drug will not reverse the disease's progression to its ultimate conclusion of total blindness. Thousands of women that took Elmiron to help ease postpartum bladder pain have filed Elmiron vision damage lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson for failing to warn them for more than 20 years about the connection between the drug and blindness. To their credit, the drug's manufacturer has noted that the degree of vision damage is directly related to the amount of PPS one takes and that no one should exceed the prescribed amount. Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, updated its website in July 2020 to warn patients about the side effects described above. This warning is too little and much too late for most people that have been taking the drug three times per day, every day, for decades. If you or a loved one have been taking Elmiron for bladder pain they should stop taking it immediately and contact an Elmiron Eyesight lawyer to see if you qualify to file a claim.

The Journal of Urology recently published a study that interviewed patients to get their reasons for discontinuing PPS. Many said that they were taking a greater dosage of Elmiron than prescribed. That could cause more extensive vision damage than for those who follow the recommended maximum dosage. In a nutshell, the study concluded that patients with diagnosed maculopathy were likely to discontinue using the prescribed PPS. The study's authors concluded that it is the responsibility of prescribing physicians to warn their patients of the side effects of using Elmiron and keep their daily intake at or below the recommended amount. OrthoElmiron warned patients: "Visual symptoms in the reported cases included difficulty reading, slow adjustment to low or reduced light environments, and blurred vision."

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