• Defective Drug Side Effects

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Makers of the drug Lucentis have issued a warning that the drug used to treat age-related blindness has been linked with an increased incidence of stroke.

The makers, Genentech, sent a letter to a group of 1,500 eye specialists warning that early results of a recent trial indicated that it could help cause strokes.

“We want to be open and honest with the physician community, but this is consistent with what we''ve seen,” said a Genentech spokeswoman.

The letter adds to the growing controversy surrounding the risks and benefits of the drug, which is designed to be safer than a similar drug, Avastin, and is formulated to be more effective in the eyes.

The drug is meant to treat age-related macular degeneration, which affects as many as 1.4 million Americans. It occurs when blood vessels in the retina leak or get damaged.

The Trial

The test compared two doses of Lucentis: the recommended dose (0.5 milligrams), and a lower dose (0.3 milligrams). It found that people taking the higher dose were four times more likely to have a stroke (1.2 percent versus 0.3 percent). There was no difference in heart attack rates between the two groups of patients.

The trial found that people who had previously suffered strokes were at greatest risk of having one, but the study authors noted that it is hard to assess the real risks with this drug because most of the people who take it are elderly and elderly people tend to have more strokes than the general population.

People were not excluded from the test due to cardiovascular risk.

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