October 27, 2008 11:45 PM
- Text
Allergan's Eyelash Enhancer Makes Your Blue Eyes Brown
(MoneyWatch)
Allergan is hoping to turn its glaucoma drug, Lumigan, into a cosmetic treatment for longer eyelashes.
Lumigan is currently approved only for preventing blindness. But it has one very odd side effect: patients' eyelashes become longer when using it.
Unsurprisingly, doctors are already using it off-label for vanity purposes.
And Allergan, as the premier vanity pharma company, isn't going to stand idly by and not turn that into a business.
But, as with all vanity pharma procedures, beauty comes at a price. Check out Lumigan's other side effects: a darkening of the skin pigment around the eyes, red eyes, and a permanent change in eye color (it gets darker).
Yes, you too could look like Sally from A Nightmare Before Christmas (particularly if you've also had a little "work" done).
Permanent eye-color changes raise some interesting questions about the future validity of photo I.D., especially for blue-eyed folk. As one of my cosmetic dermatologist sources said upon learning of the effect, "I must tell my mafia clients!"
Allergan is hoping to turn its glaucoma drug, Lumigan, into a cosmetic treatment for longer eyelashes.
Lumigan is currently approved only for preventing blindness. But it has one very odd side effect: patients' eyelashes become longer when using it.Unsurprisingly, doctors are already using it off-label for vanity purposes.
And Allergan, as the premier vanity pharma company, isn't going to stand idly by and not turn that into a business.
But, as with all vanity pharma procedures, beauty comes at a price. Check out Lumigan's other side effects: a darkening of the skin pigment around the eyes, red eyes, and a permanent change in eye color (it gets darker).
Yes, you too could look like Sally from A Nightmare Before Christmas (particularly if you've also had a little "work" done).
Permanent eye-color changes raise some interesting questions about the future validity of photo I.D., especially for blue-eyed folk. As one of my cosmetic dermatologist sources said upon learning of the effect, "I must tell my mafia clients!"
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