Florida Lions Eye Bank changed its name to Beauty of Sight on September 1, 2023

Beauty of Sight Supports Florida Lions Eye Bank's Vision-Related Research & Programs Aimed at Improving Patient Access and Experience

Serum Tears Financial Assistance

Serum Tears (or autologous serum eye drops) are an ophthalmic biological therapy made to order for each patient. Serum Tears are created by combining the patient’s blood serum with sterile, preservative-free saline. Human serum contains growth factors and proteins that, when filtered and diluted, may be used to help heal epithelial defects and relieve symptoms of severe dry eye. A physician typically prescribes serum Tears for patients experiencing symptoms that have not responded to other treatments.

In 2017, Florida Lions Eye Bank began the service of producing Serum Tears for patients throughout the state of Florida. To date, we have processed drops for nearly five thousand patients, with more added every day.

Unfortunately, most insurance plans, including Medicare and Medicaid, rarely cover Serum Tears. As such, patients are responsible for the cost of this therapy. Because of this, Florida Lions Eye Bank charges a minimal fee for the drops, which is below the cost to produce them. Yet there are still patients in our community who need these drops but are unable to afford them.

Recognizing this need, in 2018, the Beauty of Sight Foundation launched the Serum Tears Assistance Program with the support of the Florida Lions Eye Bank. This program provides free eye drops for patients in need. To receive free eye drops, patients must complete an application and provide proof of their stated income. In addition, patients are qualified based on the United States Federal Poverty Guidelines and, if approved, receive a 3-month supply of drops utterly free.
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Cornea Gratis Program

For most patients, corneal transplantation is covered by their insurance. This cost includes the corneal processing fee to cover the cost of the recovery and processing of the corneal tissue by the Florida Lions Eye Bank laboratory. However, patients without insurance and without the means to pay, may find themselves unable to undergo corneal transplantation due to the financial burden associated with this surgery.

Beauty of Sight Foundation supports the Florida Lions Eye Bank’s effort to ensure that no patient will suffer in avoidable blindness due to lack of funding. As such, the Cornea Gratis Program has been created to help subsidize the tissue processing fee cost and allow the Florida Lions Eye Bank to provide tissue completely FREE OF CHARGE to patients without insurance and without the means to pay.

All donations to this program help support needy patients in our community who require a corneal transplant. Florida Lions Eye Bank receives a call from a hospital, medical examiner’s office, or funeral home, notifying us of the death of an individual. Our trained screeners speak to the caller to ascertain whether this individual meet preliminary criteria for eye donation.

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