American Medical Association Backs Classification of Nearsightedness as Disease

<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Nation's largest physician organization adopts policy calling for insurance coverage for treatments that can slow its progression in children</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>SAN FRANCISCO</strong><strong> </strong><strong> - </strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;">In the latest sign that consensus is building toward reframing how the country treats a condition long dismissed as a routine inconvenience solved with a trip to the eyeglass counter, the American Medical Association recently passed a resolution backing formal classification of </span><a href="https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/myopia-nearsightedness"><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;">nearsightedness</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"> as a disease - including by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services - to ensure children and adolescents have access to appropriate treatments and insurance coverage. The resolution also calls for increased public health education and improved screening in children. <o:p></o:p></span></p>