The FDA has accepted a New Drug Application (NDA) for Saflutan (tafluprost, Merck/Santen) in March and will commence a standard review. The NDA outlines the proposed use for Saflutan for the reduction of elevated intraocular pressure in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension. Saflutan is currently approved in several European countries.

Inhaled steroids present no threat to cataracts, ocular pressure or vision, according to preliminary results of a 16-year cataract and asthma study. Researchers at the University of Southern Denmark studied a group of 148 patients taking inhaled budesonide for an average of 16 years. None of the study patients developed cataracts. Researchers also found no differences in vision or ocular pressure between patients on budesonide and those in the control group. The findings were presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology meeting in San Francisco in March.

In response to a September 2010 congressional briefing in Washington, D.C., Prevent Blindness America recently released a white paper on the damaging effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation to eyesight. Supported by a grant by the Transitions Healthy Sight for Life Fund, the paper, “UV and Our Nation’s Vision,” was circulated on March 17 to bring national attention to the need for public education and to issue a call-for-action for lawmakers to make UV eye protection a national health priority. To download a copy of the paper, visit www.SunandVision.org or www.Transitions.com/PRO.