Trifluridine (Ophthalmic)

Brand Names : Viroptic, trifluorothymidine

Before Using This Medicine

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of using the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For trifluridine, the following should be considered:

Allergies - Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to trifluridine. Also tell your health care professional if you are allergic to any other substances, such as preservatives.

Pregnancy - Studies have not been done in humans. When injected into developing chick embryos, trifluridine has been shown to cause birth defects. However, studies in rats and rabbits have not shown that trifluridine causes birth defects, although it did cause delayed bone formation in rats and rabbits and death in unborn rabbits.

Breast-feeding - It is unlikely that trifluridine, used in the eyes, is absorbed into the mother's body and passes into the breast milk. In addition, trifluridine has not been reported to cause problems in nursing babies.

Children - Although there is no specific information comparing the use of trifluridine in children with use in other age groups, it is not expected to cause different side effects or problems in children than it does in adults.

Older adults - Many medicines have not been studied specifically in older people. Therefore, it may not be known whether they work exactly the same way they do in younger adults or if they cause different side effects or problems in older people. There is no specific information comparing the use of trifluridine in the elderly with use in other age groups.

Other medicines - Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. Tell your health care professional if you are using any other prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicine that is to be used in the eye.