SAN ANTONIO — The first and only eye drops to treat age-related blurry near vision were approved just day ago by the FDA. It follows a clinical trial, part of which took place here in San Antonio.
They're called VUITY and they're made to temporarily treat the condition called presbyopia, or age-related blurry near vision.
"Especially like late at night, I would be on my phone and the words and letters would blur together," said 41-year-old Joshua Fosmire, who had never had to wear glasses or contacts. "My wife would come in the room and I'd have my readers on just because I couldn't see my phone without it, without them."
In the United States 128 million adults live with presbyopia, or age-related blurry near vision. Most are in their 40s when they first start noticing problems seeing clearly up close. Fosmire says these drops are a life-changer.
"After about twenty five minutes, I was like, 'wait a second,' I held the bottle up to my eyes like I did when I was in my 20s and 30s like, 'This is amazing.' Feels like a superpower now," he said.
Dr. Bobby Saenz, the Clinical Director at Parkhurst NuVision, which a San Antonio LASIK center, explained how it works.
"When you put it in the eye, it actually uses the eye's own ability for the pupil to get smaller," he said. "And when the pupil gets smaller, it actually gives us an extended depth of focus and it allows us to zoom in up close."
One drop in each eye provides sharper vision for as long as 6 to 10 hours. For some the drops start working as fast as 15 minutes. They are best for those age 40 to 55.
"This drop is just going to be another options that patients can use in addition to whatever they want to use, if they want to use readers plus this drop or contacts plus this drop," Dr. Saenz said.
But you have to see your doctor to get them.
"This drop is available by prescription only, so you have to see your eye doctor and they do have to write a prescription for you," Dr. Saenz said.
Since the drops are so new the long-term side effects are largely unknown, but they'll be following many of the participants to see how they fare down the road.