The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued new guidance recommending that a potentially sight-saving drug should be made available on the NHS to people with diabetic macular oedema (DMO).
The draft guidance recommends Lucentis (Ranibizumab), Novartis, is used as a treatment for the eye condition and, if the final guidance goes ahead, the treatment will become available on the NHS. At least 50,000 people in the UK could be affected by DMO, a serious eye condition which can lead to sight loss as a result of fluid leaking from the small blood vessels in the eye. Traditionally, laser treatment has been the standard treatment for DMO on the NHS, yet this only stops vision from deteriorating further. Lucentis, which is given in the form of an injection in the eye, is the first licensed treatment to improve vision in people with sight loss due to DMO.
