In a recent well written, compelling article published in Nature Communications, “Endothelial activation of caspase-9 promotes neurovascular injury in retinal vein occlusion,” Avrutsky et al show that caspase-9 inhibition is a promising treatment for retinal vein occlusion. Retinal vein occlusion models hypoxic-ischemic neurovascular damage and is the second leading cause of blindness in working-age adults.