Our reporter Yuan Lu
There is not enough time outdoors, and the "magic medicine" atropine is used to remedy myopia - this is the choice of many parents and mothers in Beijing in the past two years.
Today, this "shortcut" has been blocked amid a chorus of doubts.
The reporter visited the field for several consecutive days and found that many hospital outpatient clinics in the city have stopped the distribution of low-concentration atropine sulfate eye drops, and many Internet hospitals have also stopped the online sales of atropine eye drops.
Industry experts said that behind this change, the regulatory authorities stepped on the "brake plate" on suspected illegal sales of in-hospital preparations by Internet hospitals, and also reminded parents not to abuse prescription drugs.
Many hospitals in the city stop outpatient dispensing
"Xingqi's Atropine eye drops have been discontinued! The applet cannot be accessed, and the QR code of the official account is invalid." Seeing that their children will start school soon, many parents who want to "stock up" worry.
Atropine eye drops is a competitive muscarinic receptor (M receptor) antagonist, the main component is atropine, which is commonly used in ophthalmology to paralyze the ciliary muscle to reduce the eye's adjustment tension, dilate optometry, etc.
At present, atropine eye drops can be divided into different concentration types. The "magic eye drops" sought after by parents are mostly low-concentration atropine of 0.01%.
If I can’t buy it online, can I take my child to an offline hospital to open it?
The reporter recently visited many hospitals in the city and found that 0.01% atropine sulfate eye drops could not be purchased in outpatient channels.
"Doctors will definitely not be able to prescribe it. Now the regular tertiary hospitals across the country cannot directly prescribe atropine eye drops." The nurse at the ophthalmic triage desk of Beijing Tongren Hospital made it clear that the sale of low-concentration atropine eye drops has been stopped.
"Our hospital outpatient clinic cannot prescribe low-concentration atropine eye drops." The ophthalmologist of the Children's Hospital Affiliated to the Capital Institute of Pediatrics introduced that at present, the outpatient clinics of major hospitals in Beijing do not have this drug for distribution.
The doctor in the ophthalmology department of Dongcheng Maternal and Child Health Hospital said that atropine eye drops are prescription drugs, which are originally used for mydriasis and optometry.
At the same time, the doctor repeatedly reminded that for the safety of medication, parents must use atropine eye drops with a doctor's prescription.
The market value of tens of billions of Xingqi eye medicine was "punctured"
Most of the atropine eye drops sold on the market were produced by Shenyang Xingqi Eye Medicine Co., Ltd.
According to the company's official website, Xingqi Eye Medicine is a national-level high-tech enterprise specializing in the research, development, production and sales of ophthalmic drugs. It was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Growth Enterprise Market in 2016.
However, the reporter inquired that as of now, the Center for Drug Evaluation of my country's State Drug Administration has not approved any atropine eye drops for marketing, and clinical research on related drugs is still in progress.
How did Xingqi Eye Drops realize the marketing of atropine eye drops?
The answer is the business model of "medical institution preparation + Internet hospital".
On January 28, 2019, Xingqi Eye Hospital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xingqi Eye Medicine, obtained the "Medical Institution Preparation Registration Approval" issued by the Liaoning Provincial Drug Administration for atropine sulfate eye drops. Transient myopia caused by close work.
According to regulations, there are strict geographical restrictions on the use of preparations in hospitals, and preparations in medical institutions can only be used in the declared medical institutions with the prescription of a licensed physician or a licensed assistant physician.
In December 2019, Xingqi Eye Hospital opened an Internet hospital and sold this in-hospital preparation to the national market.
But the compliance of this approach has been questioned.
Thanks to the "assistance" of atropine, the stock price of Xingqi eye medicine once soared, and the market value at its peak was close to 20 billion yuan.
In early July this year, a "Notice on Matters Concerning the Preparation of Low-Concentration Atropine Sulfate Ophthalmic Medical Institutions" "punctured" the market value of Xingqi ophthalmic medicine of 10 billion.
The notice shows that in order to ensure the safety of public medication, the State Food and Drug Administration and the National Health Commission organized experts to demonstrate the long-term use of low-concentration atropine sulfate preparations in medical institutions for myopia-related indications. Experts believe that the current long-term use of this product is safe. and limited data is not yet sufficient, should continue to pay attention.
Subsequently, the share price of Xingqi Eye Medicine continued to "flash crash", and the share price plummeted by nearly 40% within 10 trading days.
On July 22, Shenyang Xingqi Eye Hospital announced that from now on, its Internet hospital will suspend the prescription of 0.01% atropine sulfate eye drops in the hospital.
Hidden Risks of Prescription Drug Abuse
Is the "magic medicine" for myopia that parents pass on by word of mouth really that magical?
Wei Wenbin, vice president and director of ophthalmology of Beijing Tongren Hospital, once publicly stated that low-concentration atropine eye drops are not "magic medicine", and some children will suffer from light sensitivity, blurred vision at close range, drug allergies, etc. Even the use of low-concentration atropine eye drops cannot effectively control the development of myopia.
The ophthalmologist of the Children's Hospital Affiliated to the Capital Institute of Pediatrics reminded reporters that the children who had used atropine eye drops had experienced symptoms such as eye discomfort and photophobia.
"Compared with eye drops, for children, it is the most important way to prevent myopia by exercising outdoors for at least 2 hours a day, avoiding long-term close eye use and paying attention to eye posture."
The reporter also noticed that many scalpers are still active on the Internet, illegally selling low-concentration atropine eye drops to parents.
In this regard, industry experts reminded that scalpers cannot ensure the temperature of medicines during express delivery, and it is difficult to ensure the efficacy of medicines.
At the same time, the most dangerous behavior is the abuse of drugs. "If the child does not have a certain degree of true myopia, and the parents use the drug by themselves, it is likely to cause the child's myopia to rebound or deepen."