Moshfeghi AA, Lanitis T, Kropat G, et al. - In the present study, the researchers sought to quantify the social cost of blindness due to wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD), diabetic macular edema (DME), and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) in the United States in 2020. Excess costs that arise due to blindness have been calculated as the cost differential in blind and non-blind people. According to findings, associated annual excess direct costs, indirect costs, and quality-adjusted life year loss per blind individual, respectively, were $4,944, $54,614, and 0.214. Combining estimates with 246,423 projected cases of blindness due to wAMD, DME, and PDR translated into overall societal costs of $20 billion in 2020, predicted to triple by 2050. Excess social costs associated with blindness are substantial in people with wAMD, DME, and PDR, with more than half of the burden being due to indirect costs.