Efficacy of Chinese cataract eye drop in question

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A Chinese manufacturer of eye drops has triggered an outcry for exaggerating the effectiveness of its products in treating cataract in its commercials, and providing misleading information to customers.

Shapuaisi Pharmacy, whose name sounds similar to "sharp eyes" in English, in east China's Zhejiang Province, has claimed that its over-the-counter eye drops could prevent and cure cataract. It also advised patients to apply their medication when they cannot see things clearly, have blurry vision or when shadows float before their eyes.

Shapuaisi ad on its official website / WeChat Photo

However, ophthalmologist Cui Hongping with Eastern Hospital affiliated to Tongji University in Shanghai, maintained that surgery is the only effective treatment for cataract, refuting any views that a medicine or eye drop could rid people of their condition.

Cataract is the clouding of the eye's lens, a condition patients have described as looking through a frosty window. Early diagnosis can help ease the symptoms with glasses, but replacing the cloudy lens with an artificial one through surgery remains the only fix.

Cui told Beijing News that many patients are “brainwashed” by Shapuaisi’s TV commercials, and therefore delay treatment.

"I have about 80 patients every week. Almost half of them have used the eye drop, and think they don’t have to undertake surgery after watching the company’s commercials. However, after spending thousands of dollars for two or three years, their condition would not be cured, with some even developing glaucoma (increased pressure inside the eye.”

Shapuaisi ad on its official website / WeChat Photo

Last year, Shapuaisi sold more than 28 million bottles of the eye drop, with annual sales reaching 750 million yuan (about 114 million US dollars), one third of which was spent on advertisement.

On Sunday, Shapuaisi said the content of their ads is in line with the law, and has been approved by Zhejiang's food and medicine watchdog.

On Wednesday, authorities said no illegal commercials of Shapuaisi have been spotted, and clinical testing showed the eye drops were not substandard.

Shapuaisi ad on its official website / WeChat Photo

However, some explained that it is not the quality of the medication that is in question, rather its efficacy, and called for strengthened measures in supervision and law enforcement.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the company's commercials had been taken down from its official website.

Screenshot from Shapuaisi's official website on the afternoon of December 6, 2017.

Some 60 percent of people aged over 60 have cataract in China. The condition accounts for 47 percent of all eye diseases that lead to blindness.

Chinese health authorities aim to increase cataract surgical rate to 2,000 operations per million by the end of 2020 nationwide. That number has already surpassed 5,000 in the US and Japan.