In reply
We agree with Friberg and colleagues that caution is always warranted in the conduct and interpretation of nonrandomized treatment comparisons. The important caveats they mention were discussed in our article.1 Additional studies are needed to define the relative treatment benefits and risks of these alternative approaches to a major ocular problem in older adults.
Correspondence: Dr Curtis, Duke Clinical Research Institute, PO Box 17969, Durham, NC 27715 (lesley.curtis@duke.edu).
Financial Disclosure: Dr Curtis reported receiving research support from Allergan, Eli Lilly and Co, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Merck & Co, Novartis, OSI Eyetech, and sanofi-aventis. Dr Schulman reported receiving research support from Actelion Pharmaceuticals, Allergan, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, Amylin, Arthritis Foundation, Astellas Pharma, Bristol-Myers Squibb, The Duke Endowment, Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, Kureha Corp, Medtronic, Merck & Co, Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, National Patient Advocate Foundation, NovaCardia, Novartis, OSI Eyetech, sanofi-aventis, Scios, Tengion, Theravance, Thomson Healthcare, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals; receiving personal income for consulting ($10 000-$25 000 per year) from McKinsey & Co and the National Pharmaceutical Council; receiving personal income for consulting (<$10 000 per year) from Advanced Health Media, Allergan, American College of Medical Genetics, American Society of Clinical Oncology, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Certified Medical Representatives Institute, The Commonwealth Fund, East Carolina University, EnablEd, Forest Laboratories, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, LifeMasters Supported SelfCare, Medical Decisions Network, Medtronic, Merck & Co, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Orexigen Therapeutics, Quintiles, Shire, Social & Scientific Systems, Wallen and Associates, and WebMD; having equity in Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, General Electric, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Co, PepsiCo, and Procter & Gamble; having equity in and serving on the board of directors of Cancer Consultants, Inc; having equity in and serving on the executive board of Faculty Connection, LLC; and having equity in and serving as a managing member of the Physician Education Leadership Institute and Tellus, LLC. Drs Curtis and Schulman have made available online detailed listings of financial disclosures (https://www.dcri.org/about-us/conflict-of-interest/). Dr Cousins reported serving as an investigator/collaborator for clinical research, grantee, and paid scientific adviser/consultant for Genentech and Eyetech.
Funding/Support: This study was supported by a research agreement between OSI Eyetech and Duke University.