The findings of a study conducted by Dr Chaim M Bell - a scientist at St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto - and colleagues, substantiate the earlier studies, which concluded that intake of Flomax - tamsulosin - by older men can be linked to cataract complications.

The Canadian study says that older men taking Flomax for the treatment of an enlarged prostate face more than two times the risk of "serious complications" in case they need to go in for cataract surgery.

The study, published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association, mentioned a 2.3 times higher risk of serious complications for the 7.5 percent men who had taken Flomax in the two week-period prior to their cataract surgery, vis-a-vis 2.7 percent men who had not taken the drug.

To arrive at the conclusion related to Flomax increasing cataract surgery complications risk, the researchers observed 96,128 men, aged 66 or more, who had undergone cataract surgery in Ontario, during the five-year period: from 2002 to 2007.

While Flomax had been taken by 3550 of the patients, within two weeks of the surgery, 7426 had not taken either Flomax or any other alpha-blocker. Nearly, 284 patients reported complications related to cataract surgery.

Bell concluded: "Patients that were prescribed tamsulosin had an over twofold increase in their risk of adverse events after cataract surgery."