Elmiron is a drug that has been prescribed to millions of patients since 1996 in order to treat interstitial cystitis (IC), otherwise known as painful bladder syndrome. But starting in 2015, researchers have begun to discover a potential link between this drug and a serious eye disease called maculopathy. But even as the evidence has piled up, Elmiron’s manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceutical has failed to warn the public about these risks, even when it knew the harm the drug caused.
IC interstitial cystitis patients are usually prescribed 300 milligram daily doses of the drug, but for more serious cases doctors have been known to prescribe 800 or even 1500 milligrams. Millions of people are taking a drug that may one day rob them of their vision, and an untold number may have already suffered serious health damage.