Ophthalmologists advised to weigh costs of diabetic retinopathy treatment

KOLOA, Hawaii — Less expensive alternatives for treating diabetic retinopathy should be explored in some subgroups of patients, according to a speaker here.“This is really a privileged time to have all these different options for treating diabetic retinopathy. Of course, the anti-VEGF options are the centerpiece for this,” William E. Smiddy, MD, said at Retina 2017. “The elephant in the room is that long-term injection [therapy] is very expensive...There are some circumstances where we can be a little more responsible with our resources because we can’t continue to ignore these high costs.”