MIAMI -- The National Institutes of Health is conducting a study on two drugs for wet macular degeneration.

South Florida is one of the testing sites for this controversial study that could cost one drug company millions of dollars.

Carl Deems, 74, has wet macular degeneration.

Since he's been receiving injections of the cancer drug Avastin, his condition has improved tremendously.

"Where I initially had a spot the size of a dime that was black now I just have a little gray area that I have to look for," said Deems.

Wet macular degeneration is where abnormal blood vessels grow and leak in the back of the eye. The growth and leakage of these blood vessels causes scarring and irreversible vision loss over a very short period of time," said ophthalmologist Philip Rosenfeld with the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami.

Rosenfeld said the condition affects people as they get older and is not preventable. There is no cure; however, two drugs have shown promise for patients in the early stages of the disease.

Avastin is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat colon cancer. Lucentis is FDA-approved specifically for wet macular degeneration.

"What Lucentis and Avastin do is they stop the blood vessels from growing and leaking. They prevent the scars from forming," said Rosenfeld.

The cost of the drugs is where the controversy comes in.

Avastin can cost anywhere from $40 to $50 depending on who's administering it while Lucentis costs over $2,000," saisd Rosenfeld.

The National Institutes of Health study will compare both drugs to find out if Avastin is as effective as Lucentis at treating wet macular degeneration.

If it is, Genetech, the company that makes both drugs, stands to lose millions.

Yet for patients like Deems, who can read and drive once again, the benefits of these drugs are priceless.

"It certainly helped me. It's just amazing," said Deems.

Rosenfeld said not smoking, eating a healthy diet and taking certain vitamins can slow down the progression of wet macular degeneration.

The NIH study is set to begin in a few months.

To find out if you are a candidate for the study call Dr. Philip Rosenfeld at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at 305-326-6000.