Liposic gel, not available in USA?

[keyblade01]

I have been trying to find out more about Liposic gel by Bausch and Lomb for dry eyes. It's on their UK website, but not their US site. Non of my opthamologists/pharmacies know what I'm talking about when I mention the gel. Is this a product that's not available in the United States? If it isn't.. is there something that is it's equivalent here? It says that it's "the only gel formulated to repair all 3 layers of the tear film" and the active ingredient is Carbomer. I currently use Refresh PM gel, is it basically the same? thanks!

Also I should mention I'm taking Restasis, if anyone knows if this Liposic gel would be a problem to take in addition to the regular 2 drops daily of Restasis.
I doubt it since most OTC gels/drops don't interact with Restasis...

[Blinks]

Hi Keyblade01,
Perhaps there's someone from Canada or the UK who can help us.

It's my understanding that the FDA published a monograph many years ago which contained approved listing of chemical components deemed "approved" for over the counter ophthalmic products.

So again, just my understanding, if the ingredients are on the "deemed approved" list, they can be sold in the US in artificial tears or ointment without having to go through clinical trials and approval.

I looked for the monograph and found it here: http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/Development.../ucm071941.htm

I didn't find the Carbomer listed there, but again, I could be way off base with this. I did search on the B&L site and found it listed on the Canadian site. There are both drops and ointment Liposic formulas available. Perhaps one of our Canadian or UK members can tell us about this product and how effective it is.

http://www.bausch.ca/en_CA/consumer/...drops_con.aspx

Recently there was an article titled: "Why Dry Eye Trials Often Fail" which offers insights to the FDA approval process in the US http://www.revoptom.com/content/c/38714/

"It is interesting to note that many dry eye agents that failed FDA testing subsequently received approval in Asia and/or Europe, and have achieved tremendous commercial success. For example, since its debut in 1995, topical sodium hyaluronate (Hyalein, Santen) has been the most frequently prescribed dry eye agent in Japan."

This author talks about the clinical trial requirement to exclude people whose symptoms mimic dry eye, but really don't have dry eye (I'm one of those). I found this article profoundly discouraging. Sigh.

[keyblade01]

Leave it to the US to approve tons of wonky drugs that do damage and overlook some great ones.... This is like my migraine medicine. My relatives from Germany send me migraine meds because they work 200% better than anything over here and have incredibly minimal side effects. Thanks for the info, I feel much better about it and will probably order some as I don't think it's going to "harm" my eyes given it's being used in so many other countries.