Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/774678
LOCAL PHYSICIAN IS R AISING AWARENESS OF THE OF T"IGNORED ISSUE OF DRY E YE DISE ASE. IMAGINE A WORLD where simple da ily tasks become grueling. Thanks to burn- ing, blinding eye pain and sensitivity to light, this is a rea lity for many individu- a ls suf fering from so-ca l led "dr y eye disea se." Complicati ng mat ters, t he ophtha lmolog y industr y of ten seems u n a ble — even u nw i l l i n g — t o help. For tunately, Perr y Rosentha l, MD, is one physicia n willing to do whatever is necessa r y to sta r t a conversation a nd beg in to understa nd a condition that a ff licts thousa nds. "I established the Boston EyePa in Foundation to raise awareness of this condition and bring it to the attention of doctors and patients," Dr. Rosenthal says. Chronic eye pain and the symptoms of dry eye are widely known, but there has been little success in the e•ort to determine causes and devise treatments. These issues are often invisible, and the medical com- munity routinely dismisses them because the answers are just as elusive. This is why Dr. Rosenthal created the Boston EyePain Foundation. His stated goal is to expand the conversation about possible causes of inadequately explained chronic dry eye and other eye pain symptoms. He also intends to support the establishment of a multidisciplinary eye pain institute as a center for research for the develop- ment of new generations of treatments for neuropathic oculofacial pain. " My m i s s ion i s t o s upp or t t ho s e patients who have been dismissed by their doctors," Dr. Rosenthal says. "They have this terrible chronic pa in that has been untreatable. W hile their eyes may look relatively norma l, this condition is rea l. Unfor tunately, ma ny have been severely impacted by the condition, and some have committed suicide because of it." Dr. Rosent ha l is no rabble-rouser. R at her, he is one of t he most accom- plished ophtha lmologists one ca n f ind. Before founding the Boston EyePa in Foundation in 2013, he specia lized in ophtha lmolog y through the residency prog ra m of Ha r va rd's Ma ssachusetts Eye a nd Ea r Inf irma r y. Dr. R osent ha l fou nded t he hospi- ta l's contact lens clinic a s a resident a nd beca me a cofou nder of Poly mer Te c h nolo g y I nc . , w h ic h de v e lop e d B os t on L en s produc t s . T hese prod - uct s i ncluded a r ig id ga s-per meable plastic that a llows corneas to breathe norma lly through the contact lenses. Dr. Rosentha l developed a gas-perme- able sclera l contact lens to treat a nd restore the vision of those with cornea l disea ses. He a lso created the Boston Foundation for Sight to provide these devices to those in need, rega rdless of their abi lit y to pay. He wa s president until 2012. Because of this ex tensive successful background in the industr y, it would be wise to strongly consider Dr. Rosenthal's view points rather tha n dismiss them out of ha nd. " W hen I was a resident, I began to see these patients with invisible pa in, a nd BY ERIC SLACK 1 6 1 6❱❱❱❱❱ P H Y S I C I A N P R O F I L E