Is a ‘Cure’ for Blindness Worth $1 Million?

December 29, 2017

(The Atlantic) – Last week, the Food and Drug Administration approved Luxturna, the first gene therapy to treat a specific form of inherited blindness called Leber’s congenital amaurosis. In fact, it’s the first gene therapy to treat any inherited disease at all. The news has been universally hailed as a scientific breakthrough. But its stratospheric cost—potentially $1 million per patient—has provoked hard questions about the value of the ability to see, especially if its effects are only partial and temporary, as may be the case with Luxturna.