As recently reported on MedPage Today, Christos Haritoglou, M.D., of Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany, and fellow researchers reported in the April 2009 issue of The Lancet, that in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial, calcium dobesilate failed to lower the incidence of clinically significant macular edema. Specifically, over five years of follow-up, the probability of macular edema was 35% in the treatment arm, not significantly different from the 28% seen in the placebo arm.

While the researchers were disappointed by the result, they noted the importance of rejecting the utility of a drug already on the market and thereby stop the costly use of a pharmaceutical that may have limited or no benefit to the patient.

Read ^[1] the full story on MedPage Today.