Alcon, Inc. announced that on April 1, 2009 Kevin Buehler will become President and Chief Executive Officer of Alcon, Inc. Cary Rayment will retire as President and Chief Executive Officer effective March 31, 2009, but will continue to serve as a Director and the (non-executive) Chairman of the Board. Mr. Buehler will also be nominated as a board member, which shareholders will vote on at the Annual General Meeting.
     Mr. Buehler is currently Senior Vice President, Global Markets and Chief Marketing Officer of Alcon Laboratories, Inc., a subsidiary of Alcon, Inc. In this capacity, he is responsible for all aspects of the company's Surgical, Pharmaceutical and Consumer groups, and is integral in the development and execution of corporate strategy. During his 24-year tenure at Alcon, Mr. Buehler has developed extensive knowledge of Alcon's global operations.
     After joining Alcon in 1984 as a Regional Sales Manager in the Consumer Products Division, Mr. Buehler moved up through the organization over the next several years and held numerous sales and marketing positions. In 1996, Mr. Buehler was named Director of Alcon's Managed Care and Falcon Generic Pharmaceutical groups, where he gained significant experience with the pharmaceutical and surgical business areas and was promoted to Vice President in 1998. The following year he returned to the U.S. Consumer Products Division as Vice President and General Manager. In January of 2002, Mr. Buehler moved to the International Division as Vice President and Regional Manager, Latin America and Caribbean. He was later named Area Vice President, Latin America, Canada, Australia and Far East.
     Mr. Rayment joined Alcon when it acquired CooperVision Surgical in 1989. He has been integral to the company's growth throughout his long career as a manager and executive of Alcon. Mr. Rayment has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Alcon since October of 2004 and Chairman since May 2005. During that time, he has led the company to solid gains in sales and earnings. With his extensive industry knowledge and experience across all divisions of Alcon, his continued service will be supportive of this management transition and the continuation of Alcon's growth strategies.

Recently launched, LensDen is a trial contact lens storage system, which, according to the manufacturer, addresses the issues of wasted space and a cluttered office appearance that many eye care practitioner's offices have with current contact lens storage displays.
     The Lens Den is modular, stackable, and can be mounted on a wall. It comes assembled with the number of drawers necessary to hold a given set of contact lenses. Additional add-ons for customized storage are also available. This first product is for toric and multifocal displays of lenses in which a grid storage system is optimal. Spherical storage has already been designed and will be added in coming months.
     For more information visit www.thelensden.com or contact the company at lensdensupport@gmail.com or 877.370.LENS.

LensAlert Contact Lens and Case Replacement Timers are featured in the February issue of Woman's Day magazine under the heading "Product We Love." The article states, "If remembering to change your disposable contacts is tough, then keeping track of when to replace the lens case is probably pretty much impossible. Enter LensAlert, a simple device that could become as essential to your eye-care routine as multipurpose solution..."
     LensAlert President, John O'Hara, said "Having a magazine with over 20 million readers select our product as a product they love makes us very proud. This is the first time that millions of contact lens wearers will find out about LensAlert and this is good for compliance. LensAlert can help contact lens wearers have a better experience with their contact lenses, and at the end of the day, that is a great accomplishment."
     LensAlert recently introduced a new line of products including contact lens and case timers and color case replacement packs. For more information please visit www.lensalert.com or email lensalert@aol.com.

Now is the perfect time to fit more of your patients in ACUVUE® OASYS™ Brand Contact Lenses with HYDRACLEAR® Plus for all-day comfort and Class 1 UV blocking* for great protection against UV rays. To learn more about our innovations in comfort, vision and health, go to:
*Product and UV Information   
 Important Safety Information
--ADVERTISING

AllAboutVision.com, online source for vision information, and Vision Research Center, a specialty research company, have reached a strategic agreement giving AllAboutVision.com access to up-to-the-minute consumer and professional opinion research on vision-related topics to augment its award-winning web content. The agreement also provides Vision Research Center access to AllAboutVision.com's engaged consumer audience of vision-related information seekers.
     "This research will be a very valuable addition to our already rich content," said Ron Walker, publisher of AllAboutVision.com. "It is especially useful as more people, such as 'boomers,' experience age-related vision problems. We intend the research to be both a resource for consumers and an educational aid for eye care professionals to use when counseling patients."
     "We find that consumers are very interested in what their peers are thinking and buying," said Kate Maguire, President and founder of Vision Research Center. "This new agreement gives our survey sponsors a way to show how vision care is changing and how products that improve vision are also improving people's lives. Our unique ability to provide real-time information and AllAboutVision.com's commitment to update content frequently makes this partnership ideal."
     "Our goal is to advance better eye health, and I believe that we have found an efficient way to do it through the leading on-line vision resource," said Julie Fotheringham, Director of Vision Research Center. "We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with AllAboutVision.com." 

Paragon Vision Sciences announces the launch of a new book written by parents for parents, My Children Are Nearsighted Too. Drs. Despotidis, Lee and Tannen, who work together in private practice in New Jersey, co-authored the book. Their stories are written as parents, who happen to be eye doctors. According to the authors' website, they discuss why so many children are becoming myopic, methods of correction and prevention.
     Practitioners attending the 2009 Global Specialty Lens Symposium (GSLS) in Las Vegas, are invited to pick up their complimentary copy at the Paragon booth (while supplies last). Also, Dr. Despotidis will be signing books in Paragon's booth on Friday, January 16, 2009 from 12:30 to 1:00 PM.
     The book is available though Amazon.com. For additional information visit: www.MyChildrenAreNearsightedToo.com.

The VSP Mobile Eyes program provided over $1.8 million in charitable eyecare services and education outreach in 2008, including response services to four major disasters, as reported by VSP. The mobile clinics traveled to 62 locations nationwide providing eyecare services to more than 6,500 low-income, uninsured and underinsured individuals and families. Over 75 VSP eye doctors volunteered their time and 57 VSP employees trained and volunteered up to two weeks of their time to work on VSP's Mobile Response Team (MRT).
     VSP's Mobile Eyes program began as an extension of relief efforts following hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The program includes two mobile eyecare clinics and ten sets of portable ophthalmic equipment. Both clinics feature two state-of-the-art comprehensive eye exam rooms and a full dispensary to provide exams and materials to people in need.
     Partnering with VSP eye doctors, the mobile clinics provided eyecare such as eye exams and replacement eyewear to those affected by hurricane Ike in Texas and MRT support and supplies for the Super Tuesday tornadoes which ravaged Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. The mobile clinic and VSP eye doctors also provided relief and eyecare to fire crews battling wild fires in both Northern and Southern California.

17+ hours of CE  ·  International Speakers  ·  Hands-on Access to New Products  ·  On the Strip in Las Vegas
Join Contact Lens Spectrum and the Health Care Conference Group for the Global Specialty Lens Symposium (GSLS), January 15-18, 2009, at Bally's Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. The GSLS will include presentations on the latest techniques and technologies for the successful management of ocular conditions - from presbyopia to pediatric vision correction - using today's specialty contact lenses. Truly an international meeting, GSLS will provide insights of experts from around the globe and hands-on access to the most current products available. The program will be accredited for continuing education under COPE, NCLE and JCAHPO, offering 17+ credit hours. 
     Visit www.GSLSymposium.com for more information or to register for this unique meeting.
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The purpose of this study was to assess the incidence and risk factors of Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) over an 8-year period in a Canadian tertiary care setting. The authors retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 41 patients (42 eyes), who were diagnosed as having AK between January 1999 and December 2006 in the cornea clinic at the Toronto Western Hospital. The incidence and risk factors of AK were evaluated.
     The number of cases per year increased from between 0 and 4 in the first 5 years to 9, 14, and 8 in the last 3 years. The annual increasing trend was statistically significant (P = 0.04). The month of onset of disease symptoms showed a trend toward onset in summer and fall and was statistically significant for the difference between January and August (P = 0.0094). The season of onset of disease symptoms showed a trend toward summer onset, and the difference between winter and summer was statistically significant (P = 0.02). Of the total cases, 92.9% occurred in contact lens wearers, particularly in soft contact lens wearers (82.1%).
     The authors concluded that the incidence of AK in Canada may be increasing since 2004 and there is a seasonal trend toward disease onset in the warmer months.
McAllum P, Bahar I, Kaiserman I, Srinivasan S, Slomovic A, Rootman D. Temporal and seasonal trends in Acanthamoeba keratitis. Cornea 2009;28:7-10.    

Although hydrogel lenses make up the bulk of most contact lens practices, it's important that we continue to remember the many benefits that GP lenses afford our patients. It was originally thought that silicone hydrogel contact lenses would reduce microbial keratitis during overnight wear, but recent studies have not shown this to be true. The wear of GPs, even on an overnight basis, continues to show relatively low rates of infection. Further, GP lenses may be beneficial for our severely dry eye patients, particularly large diameter lenses. Lastly, GP lenses continue to offer excellent vision correction, and are especially beneficial for our patients with irregular corneas. Please do not forget about this important lens option for your patients.
Jason J. Nichols, OD, MPH, PhD, FAAO

This month at www.siliconehydrogels.com: Using silicone hydrogels to mask irregular astigmatism; the relationship between oxygen transmissibility and overnight corneal swelling; and part one of our BCLA 2008 synopsis.