vol2 - Page 263

 • identity and ability to function. Those who are young enough
 or strong_willed enough will regain a sense of places hold
 meaningful jobs, but many aspects of the life they once took
 for granted °
 cannot be recaptured. Other patients may never
 ! fully adjust to their news uncertain circumstanceso
 9. Blindness is a very grave consequence. Pro-
 tecting patients from blindness is considered so important that
 it justifies the use of toxic medicines and uncertain surgical
 procedures which in other contexts might be considered
 "unsafe. _ In practice, physicians often provide glaucoma
 i .......
 patients with drugs which have many serious adverse effects.
 10. There are only a limited number of drugs avail-
 able for the treatment of glaucoma. All of these drugs produce
 ........ _ adverse effects. While several government _eitnesses lightly
 touched on the side effects of these drugs_ none provided a
 full or detailed description of their known adverse conse-
 quences.
 11. These are standard texts describing glaucoma
 therapies and side effects: Chandlers PA, Grant WM: Glaucoma
 (ed) Lea & Febiger_ Philadelphla 1979_ Havener, WH: Ocular
 Pharmacology (ed) The C.V. Mosby Company_ Saint Louis 1978;
 o
 Kolker, AE, Hethe:ington_ J_ Becker-Shaffer_s Diaagnosls and
 Therapy of the Glaucomas (ed) The C.V. Mosby Companys Saint
 Louis, 1970_ and Fraunfelder_ FT: Druq_In_uced Ocular Side
 _ffects and Drug Xnteractlons (ed) La & Feblger_ Philadelphia,
 1982. |