A recent study found that 87% of patients who experienced an adverse symptom from a prescribed drug spoke to their doctor. However less than half of the doctors went through with filing the adverse event paperwork to notify the drug manufacturer. Why is this?

The research was published in the latest issue of Drug Safety. Doctors dismissed patients' complaints, and told them their symptoms were not connected to use of the drug. One doctor commented that the time it takes to complete the adverse event drug paperwork is time-consuming, and often not worth it unless it is life threatening. Would Hippocrates have accepted that answer? Please review your Hippocratic Oath, doc.

Your doctor is too busy to file the necessary paperwork to notify the FDA a drug is potentially harmful. What is a patient to do? Good question and here's an answer! If you experienced any adverse side effects from the use of a prescription drug, please let the FDA know. Click BEGIN and bring this monkey business to an end!

The American Diabetes Association's (ADA) 67th Scientific Sessions conference will draw to a close tomorrow. Among the latest presentations was a report on quality of life for people suffering from diabetic retinopathy. A recent Eli Lilly-funded study involving 684 patients concluded that diabetics with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy who lose at least ten letters in visual acuity - the measurement used by eye specialists - suffer a notable decline in quality of life. Significance? Vision loss used to be defined as beginning at a loss of at least fifteen letters, but this study says even mild to moderate visual impairment impacts physical functioning. More details of the findings are reported on the website DocGuide.

An example of the insidiousness of diabetes-related health complications, diabetic retinopathy causes damage to blood vessels in the eye's retina. The disease harms vision, and can even lead to blindness. Basically what happens is this: as the disease progresses, blood vessels form on the retina that are particularly susceptible to breaking and bleeding into the eye. This is known as proliferative retinopathy. It obscures the vision and can also lead to the formation of scar tissue that can eventually lead to retinal detachment.

Health Tip: Sadly, you can't cure retinopathy once you have it. However, you can slow its progress by keeping blood sugar and blood pressure levels under control. Diabetics who have not been diagnosed should also know one important fact: diagnosis usually comes after damage has already occurred. It's therefore imperative that you get screened for the disease by an ophthalmologist or optometrist annually. View the ADA's full recommendations by clicking here.

Scientists at Johns Hopkins report a drug commonly used to slow the loss of central vision has shown promise in treating a common precursor of blindness in diabetics.

Researchers injected the drug into the eyes of 10 people losing their sight from macular edema, one of many complications of diabetes and a first stage of diabetic retinopathy. Over the course of several months of therapy, every patient in the study could read at least two more lines on the standard eye chart. The drug used in this study is called ranibuzumab. The researchers believe that ranibuzumab interferes with a protein that spurs the growth of unwanted blood vessels in the back of the eye. Vascular endothelial growth factor, or VEGF, is released when the oxygen supply in the eye is restricted by blood vessel damage related to diabetes. In a self-preserving attempt to acquire more oxygen, the VEGF signals for the creation of new blood vessels, which almost always damage, rather than improve, vision by blocking light's entry onto the retina.

I'm a perfect candidate for this therapy! Every 6 months, when I have my macular maintenance checkup -- I'm dilated, checked and sent on my way. I am going to do a little name-dropping on my next visit and see if I can't get myself one or two more lines on the standard eye chart.

Virtual visits to the doctor: what a great idea. I love it even though it's never worked out for me! I usually give up fiddling with the complicated web-based system and just call the doctor's office for an old-fashioned appointment. Sigh. Long-distance medicine is spreading, nevertheless. And it has the potential to revolutionize access to medical treatment in the developing world.

Case in point: Lawrence (Larry) Merin (pictured), an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Vanderbilt Ophthalmic Imaging Center (Vanderbilt University), is lending his talents to help out diabetics in Peru and Bolivia. Workers in those countries will take pictures of the eyes of those afflicted with diabetic retinopathy, which can lead to vision loss and blindness. The pics will be emailed to Merin's Nashville office. Merin and other specialists at the Center will evaluate the pictures and send back treatment advice - all at no charge. According to Merin, the strategy is intended to help some of those who are desperately in need as diabetes rates skyrocket in the Third World. (It is thought that around seven percent of the populations of Bolivia and Peru are diabetic.) "There's an area of Peru where there are 1 million people but not one ophthalmologist," says Merin. "Without this [service], more and more people will go blind."

Incidentally, funding for this wonderful initiative comes from the Center for the Americas at Vanderbilt, whose purpose is to encourage relationships between the US and South American countries that will help with the development of that region. Assistance also comes from the Pan American Health Organization.