In the News – Glaucoma Drug Grows Long Eyelashes

Snippet from the article in the NY Times:

Call it the Great Eyelash Coup. In November 2007, at the request of the Food and Drug Administration, United States marshals seized 12,682 tubes — about $2 million worth — of Age Intervention Eyelash, a lash enhancer then sold by Jan Marini Skin Research. The F.D.A. considered it an “unapproved and misbranded drug” in part because it contained bimatoprost, which is approved for glaucoma treatment but not for cosmetic use.

Since 2001, ophthalmologists have found that hair growth was a side effect. Others included optic-nerve damage and blindness — hardly worth the risk if you didn’t have glaucoma.

Read the full article — Longer Lashes in a Tube? Maybe Not

The price we pay for unapproved drug experimentation may be more that you ever thought possible. There was another article about bimatoprost (which is the active ingredient in Lumagen) back about 8 months ago that I mentioned. And there’s another drug, latanoprost (Xalatan), that seems to have similar effects on eyelashes (see previous post here).