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U.K. report says patients with AMD wait too long for treatment
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LONDON — Patients with wet age-related macular degeneration are “losing their sight as they sit in waiting rooms” in the United Kingdom, said Tom Bremridge, the chief executive of the Macular Disease Society, a self-help organization for people with macular diseases.
Too few professionals in the U.K. National Health Service “recognize the symptoms of wet macular disease, which needs immediate treatment to stop the condition getting worse,” according to a press release from the Society.
Mr. Bremridge was to present a report to the House of Commons earlier this week, according to the news release, asking the government to remove barriers to treatment.
“There are 3 months from bleed to bust,” Mr. Bremridge said in the release. “If the patient does not receive laser treatment within this time frame, it is often too late. … Sadly, we are finding from our help line that people are being given appointments up to 17 weeks after the first symptoms are discovered.”