MedPage Today (2/9, Neale) reported, “For patients with dry-eye syndrome who don’t respond to conventional treatment, cyclosporine drops are cost-effective,” according to a study published in the Feb. issue of Archives of Ophthalmology. Investigators “examined data from two six-month, multicenter, randomized controlled trials evaluating twice-daily emulsions containing 0.05 percent of cyclosporine, as well as records from other trials submitted to the FDA.” The researchers found that participants “had a 4.3 percent improvement in quality of life with cyclosporine compared with lubricant drops alone and a 7.1 percent improvement compared with no treatment.” According to the investigators, while “treatment with drops containing cyclosporine was more expensive than lubricant drops, the cost to society per quality-adjusted life-year of $34,953 was below the commonly accepted $50,000 threshold for cost-effectiveness.” MedPage noted that “keratoconjunctivitis sicca — dry-eye disease — affects an estimated 14.6…to 33.7 percent of older patients and is associated with difficulties in performing daily activities.”