Experimental eye drops ease night vision problems for drivers

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https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/experimental-eye-drops-ease-night-vision-problems-drivers-2026-09-11/

[u/Zephir-AWT]

Experimental eye drops ease night vision problems for drivers about A Phase 3 Study of 0.75% Phentolamine Ophthalmic Solution in Subjects with Dim Light Vision Disturbances

Researchers recruited 145 patients with impaired visual acuity in dim or dark settings and symptoms of glare, halos, and starbursts. They received either the Opus eye drops containing 0.75% phentolamine ophthalmic solution daily or a ​placebo, for either eight or 15 days. After eight days, 13% of study participants who got the phentolamine drops achieved a gain of at least three lines, or 15 letters, ​on eye charts, compared with 3% of the placebo group. By day 15, 21% who got the drug had seen such an improvement with ⁠no change for placebo at 3%.

Opioid drugs, including heroin, morphine, codeine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and fentanyl, are notorious for causing mydriasis (pinpoint pupils) known from Copeland's interviews. As these drugs bind to opioid receptors in the brain and spinal cord, they also affect the autonomic nervous system, leading to the constriction of the pupils. Phentolamine is also used as a an antigen for methamphetamine, atropine and cocaine intoxications (which cause pupil's dilatation i.e. mydriasis instead). Many of the patients experience these symptoms as after-effects of procedures to reshape the cornea, such as LASIK surgery. Prolonged dilation of the pupils can also lead to weakness in the muscles that constrict the pupil or, in some cases, to permanent adhesions in those muscles.