VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies, Inc. announced that First Coast Service Options, Inc. established a local coverage determination (LCD) that allows patients with untreatable end-stage age-related macular degeneration access to the Implantable Miniature Telescope (IMT(TM) by Dr. Isaac Lipshitz) technology. Patients must meet criteria noted in the contractor's LCD policy. The telescope implant, an integral component of a new patient care program called CentraSight(R), is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to improve vision in patients with end-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most advanced form of AMD.

Eligible patients must have associated central vision blindness and must have either stopped responding to AMD medications, or have a form of the disease for which no treatment is available. Approximately two million Americans have advanced forms of AMD with associated vision loss. Over a half million of these individuals have end-stage AMD and may be candidates for the telescope implant.

Despite the availability of new drug treatments that slow the progression of AMD, the number of people with end-stage AMD is expected to double by the year 2050. VisionCare's clinical trial results, which have been published in peer-reviewed articles, demonstrated improved visual acuity and quality of life in patients with end-stage AMD. In the July 2011 issue of Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, a study reported the intraocular telescope improves quality of life and is cost effective.