Wondering why Freshkote isn't more well known

[yoganut]

Currently trying Dr. Holly's NutraTear and limiting myself to dropping 4 times per day. Its wonderful to find a drop that feels so smooth and actually lasts for any amount of time. I've tried just about every drop under the sun and just about all of them make my eyes feel more sore after a few minutes.
I'm still not out of the woods, currently have eyelid margin itching and a bit of blurriness.

This led me to musing why the Rx version Freshkote isn't offered more by opthalmologists. If I hadn't found this site I still would never have known about it or Dr Holly's drops. It seems to me that alot of eye docs out there are wanting people to go on Restasis. I already told my eye doc on my first visit that Restasis made my eyes more sore.. and my 2nd visit what does he offer a) Restasis and Lotemax for 2, yes - 2 months (I think thats a long time to be on a steroid - anyone else?)
and b) plugs - take it or leave it - there it is.

So after day 12 of Restasis/Lotemax and feeling more cruddy than ever, I finally started Dr. Holly's drops. Its been about 5 days I think. I'm really hopeful I will see some improvement as others here have done. Even if they don't really help heal for me they feel just about the best eyedrop out there, and I worry there won't be enough demand for Dr Holly's drops as theyre not well known.

[Rebecca Petris]

The answer to the FreshKote question is very $imple really....

The extent to which doctors are aware of any given drug is pretty much directly analogous to the marketing budget of the company marketing the product. Mainstay ophthalmology/optometry marketing includes ads in the major 'throwaway' medical mags; presence at all the major conferences; ample samples; and frequent sales calls by sales reps.

Restasis is from Allergan, the ophthalmic pharma giant who pretty much own the dry eye market in this country.

Freshkote is from Focus Laboratories, a startup. It takes a long time for a sales force to work their way around the country, one practice at a time.

This is one of the reasons I'm trying to expand DEZ' offerings for doctors - including the weekly bulletins and the product part of the dry eye yellow pages - to help the smaller companies get their name and their products out there. Since I know exactly how a small company feels

Re: the other Dr. Holly's Drops - deo volente, having come this far I've no intention of giving up anytime soon. They'll pry those drops from my cold dead hands. Things are starting to look up actually - it seems there's starting to be a much-needed revival of interest from scientific circles in Dr. Holly's scientific work lately.

[Randal]

FreshKote -- Why Rx?

Rebecca:

Maybe you've answered this before and I'm just having problems finding the answer, but why is FreshKote prescription-only but the other drops -- NutraTear, Dakrina, and Dwelle -- are not?

Isn't FreshKote essentially the same as Dwelle (or Dakrina, I forget which) with a lipid component added?

Thanks.

Randal

The answer to the FreshKote question is very $imple really....

The extent to which doctors are aware of any given drug is pretty much directly analogous to the marketing budget of the company marketing the product. Mainstay ophthalmology/optometry marketing includes ads in the major 'throwaway' medical mags; presence at all the major conferences; ample samples; and frequent sales calls by sales reps.

Restasis is from Allergan, the ophthalmic pharma giant who pretty much own the dry eye market in this country.

Freshkote is from Focus Laboratories, a startup. It takes a long time for a sales force to work their way around the country, one practice at a time.

This is one of the reasons I'm trying to expand DEZ' offerings for doctors - including the weekly bulletins and the product part of the dry eye yellow pages - to help the smaller companies get their name and their products out there. Since I know exactly how a small company feels

Re: the other Dr. Holly's Drops - deo volente, having come this far I've no intention of giving up anytime soon. They'll pry those drops from my cold dead hands. Things are starting to look up actually - it seems there's starting to be a much-needed revival of interest from scientific circles in Dr. Holly's scientific work lately.