modern-day-miracles
Do you believe in miracles?
I do.
I believe in modern -day miracles.
Not divine miracles, but man - made miracles.
Let me tell you what happened to me recently.
A man - made miracle recently occurred to me.
As you are all aware, I suffer from glaucoma and the most terrifying news that any glaucoma sufferer can ever receive is the news that their glaucoma eye drops have reached their "end life." "End life" is the term used when a prostaglandin eye drop is no longer effective and ceases to function properly.
An unfortunate characteristic of all prostaglandin eye drops is that each of them has a limited life time and in my case, the prostaglandin that I happened to be using had reached its end life and I experienced what is known as "out of control glaucoma."
For those of you who are not familiar with the symptoms of out of control glaucoma I can describe them for you in very simple terms.
The symptoms are not very pleasant. The eyeball becomes as hard as a rock. This is due to a buildup of fluid within the eye caused by a blockage within the eye. All the time that this is going on, new fluid keeps entering into the eye. It is like blowing up a balloon with a bicycle pump. Eventually, there comes a time when the balloon has to burst. Fortunately for me, my time had not come and I was able to switch to another prostaglandin called tafluprost.
It was only through a sequence of lucky events that this was made possible, otherwise this man-made miracle that I refer to, may never have occurred.
Let me explain:
Some time ago, I wrote an article called ZIOPTAN, in which I implored an individual called Mark McGowan, the Premier of Western Australia, to make Zioptan available for all glaucoma sufferers throughout Western Australia.
I am sad to inform everyone that this man succeeded in doing absolutely nothing towards making this prostaglandin available for glaucoma sufferers throughout Western Australia.
It was left up to Merck Sharp & Dohme (Australia) Pty Ltd to apply to the Australian Government, Department of Health, Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for tafluprost (Zioptan) to be registered as a medicine in May 2012. The end result of all of this long, convoluted process was that based on a review of quality, safety and efficacy, the Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia rejected the use of Saflutan (tafluprost), eye drops, for the reduction of elevated intraocular pressure in open angle glaucoma in Australia.
Merck Sharp & Dohme (Australia ) Pty Ltd appealed against this decision to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia. On 16 December 2011, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia set aside the decision not to register Saflutan and substituted a decision to approve the registration of Saflutan under subsection 25(1) of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989.
If it were not for the timely intervention of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia, my man - made miracle may never have occurred.
All it took to save my eyesight was one drop of tafluprost. I was truly amazed at how quickly it took effect.
You can read about the long, convoluted process involving the Therapeutic Goods Administration and tafluprost in:
The Australian Public Assessment Report for Tafluprost written by the Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia.
For the most part, this report is written in a language that is highly unintelligible and irresponsible.
How could a well respected government organisation like the Therapeutic Goods Administration reject a miracle medicine such as tafluprost?
It is beyond belief that such a thing could ever have been allowed to happen.
My criticism of the role of the Therapeutic Goods Administration in this whole saga is never-ending and deservedly so.
Doesn't the Therapeutic Goods Administration realise what trauma besets a glaucoma sufferer when he or she is faced with the daunting prospects of confronting out of control glaucoma?
On the other hand, my praise for others involved in this saga is equally never-ending.
I refer to the following:
Carl B. Camras ( 23 November 1953 - 14 April 2009) was a great American ophthalmologist known for his research work into the treatment of glaucoma. He developed latanoprost which is the most widely used glaucoma medication in the world today. He never did reveal how he managed to stumble upon the idea of using latanoprost for the treatment of glaucoma. There were many thousands of other biological agents that he could have chosen. Yet he managed to choose the right one.
Latanoprost was approved by the Federal Drug Authority of America for ocular use in 1996. Prior to that, there were only some very ineffective eye drops and a very questionable type of eye surgery called trabeculectomy. I have great pity for any glaucoma sufferer who was alive at that time.
Carl B. Camras should be forever regarded as a great genius who struggled against glaucoma and won. There aren't too many research workers around the World who can lay claim to such an accomplishment. Millions of people around the World owe their eyesight to this great man.
I also have nothing but praise for Merck Sharpe & Dohme (Australia) Pty Ltd, who had the courage to persevere with tafluprost, and nothing but praise for Mundipharma Pty Limited who have the courage to supply tafluprost to such a small market as Australia, and I applaud all of the large pharmaceutical companies around the world who manufacture prostaglandins.
Without them, my man - made miracle would never have happened.
What happened to me recently can only be described as something that was truly a miracle.
FOOTNOTE:
The lifetime of prostaglandins and how they really work, will be the subject of my next article.
You may be wondering, why don't I simply have an iStent implantation?
The answer to that question is quite complex.
For that, you will have to go to my website:
https://sites.google.com/view/istent-expert-wanted
NB At the time that I was writing my article on ZIOPTAN , I had no idea that my eyesight would become so heavily dependant upon Zioptan and what an amazing eye drop that it would turn out to be.
Written by:
The Eye Enigma
1 January 2022
https://sites.google.com/view/haigis
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