Artificial tears prescribed for dry eye, contain water, salts and polymers but lack the proteins found in natural tears. They only suppress negative symptoms temporarily, and some contain preservatives that are toxic. The global market for artificial tears is expected to reach $2bn a year by 2018, but they do not address any underlying causes and are a waste of resources. There needs to be a shift in focus for all topical therapy for dry eye such as preventing friction, encouraging tear secretion and reducing inflammation of the ocular surface. Quote from an article: Dr. Latkany notes that artificial tears are helpful as adjunctive agents, but that they are not the answer for dry-eye patients. “None of these can come close to the complexity of our natural tears,” he says. “I am not in love with any of them, but we are improving the options. I think the marketing campaigns from the pharmaceutical companies make these products appear very attractive and very complex and to appear to be the answer to all dry-eye patients, but that is far from the truth, and we have a long way to go.”