Lucentis deemed safe for diabetic macular edema

Lucentis (ranibizumab) which was approved to treat diabetic macular edema (DME) in the United States back in August of this year, has been found to be safe for long-term use in treating the condition. Researchers conducted a 2-year study to evaluate long-term safety and efficacy with the goal being to determine the incidence of ocular and non-ocular adverse events. Researchers determined that there were no noticeable differences in ocular or non-ocular adverse events whether patients had first had Lucentis injections or laser surgery. The conclusion that was drawn was that as-needed injections of Lucentis were safe in the long run and that the injections actually delivered better results in terms of visual acuity than laser therapy did.