CONTACT LENSES TODAY
March 13, 2005
Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This
week CLToday® reaches more than 10,000 readers in 74 countries.
FDA Approves VISX's Iris Registration Technology
The FDA recently gave its approval to VISX, Incorporated for its Iris Registration technology, which is
an iris-based, automated, non-contact method of aligning and registering wavefront corrections for CustomVue treatment. According to VISX,
iris registration is a hardware product upgrade, installed to the VISX Star laser system. To perform VISX CustomVue procedures with Iris
Registration, physicians need to first contact the VISX Customer Response Center (800-246-8479) to place an order for the upgrade. Next,
physicians will need to complete the CustomVue Iris Registration Certification Course, which will be available in the near future.
B&L Initiates and Withdraws Litigation Over Alleged Patent Infringement
Last Monday, Bausch & Lomb filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Rochester, N.Y.
against Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary IVC Industries, Inc. of Freehold, N.J. The lawsuit charged that
Inverness and IVC manufacture and distribute eye vitamins that infringe B&L's patent rights to the high-potency antioxidant and mineral formula
in the company's Ocuvite PreserVision nutritional supplements. On Friday,
B&L announced that it is dismissing without prejudice the patent infringement lawsuit after receiving a written representation from Inverness
Medical Innovations that neither it nor its subsidiaries manufactured or distributed certain private-label eye vitamins that infringe B&L's patent
rights to the antioxidant and mineral formula in B&L's Ocuvite PreserVision.
Lens of Choice for All Patient Types, Practitioners Report
In a recent survey, Eye Care Professionals who participated in a market test reported that ACUVUE ADVANCE Brand Contact
Lenses with HYDRACLEAR is their first choice when fitting new, current and former lens wearers of all ages:
- 87% select the lens over other brands
when fitting contact lens wearers with comfort concerns.
- 82% choose it as the best brand for lapsed contact lens wearers.
- 63% say it is
their top choice for new teen contact lens wearers.
- 71% consider ACUVUE ADVANCE with HYDRACLEAR their preferred brand for new adult contact
lens wearers.
Offer all your patients long lasting comfort with ACUVUE ADVANCE with
HYDRACLEAR. http://www.ecp.acuvue.com
--ADVERTISING
AOA Offers OCC for Those Who Seek Employment or Employees
The American Optometric Association (AOA) is offering new enhancements and features at Optometry's Career
Center (http://www.optometryscareercenter.org), an online service that provides direct
access to hundreds of quality candidates nationwide who are looking for optometric opportunities. Unlimited access is free to AOA members as
a member benefit. Access to post a listing and/or search the online seeker resume database is available at a fee to nonmembers. The new
enhancements and features enable you to manage candidate responses easily through your personal inbox; view the number of times seekers access your
listing; edit, renew or delete your listing(s) at any time; and much more. Visit the Web site or call (800) 365-2219 x 111 for more
information.
1-800 Reviews 2004 and Makes 2005 Projections
In reporting results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2004, 1-800 Contacts stated that, for the fiscal year
ended January 1, 2005, consolidated net sales were $211.7 million, compared to $187.3 million for the previous year, representing a 13% increase.
The company also reported that it expects to achieve U.S. retail net sales in the range of $220 million to $230 million and U.S. retail operating
income of $17 million to $20 million in fiscal 2005. It reported that it expects to spend approximately $23 million to $25 million on advertising
during fiscal 2005. In other company news, 1-800 says that in December 2004 it made the decision to suspend sales of a doctor-exclusive brand of
contact lenses that it believes would have represented approximately 3% of its 2005 sales. Also, 1-800's referral agreement with Cole National
expires at the end of this month and the company has not yet decided whether it will renew the agreement. 1-800 CEO Jonathan Coon also announced
that the company has developed a new brand, "1-800 eyedoctor," and that it has partnered with a small regional optical chain in Utah to test the
customer service model.
Researchers Link Gene Mutation to AMD
The March 10, 2005 issue of
Intelihealth (http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtPrint/WSIHW000/333/28042/413320.html?hide=t&k=basePrint) reported
on the results of three research groups that studied patients who have age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and others who don't have the disease. The
researchers found that those who have a variation of the CFH gene (which is involved in the production of the protein complement factor H, which helps
regulate inflammation in a branch of the immune system) were more likely to have the illness and that both wet and dry forms of AMD are associated with
the CFH gene variation. The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Fund for the Arts and Sciences, the National Eye Institute, the National Institute on Aging, the
National Center for Research Resources and Research to Prevent Blindness funded the researchers. The online issue of the journal Science reported
the new gene findings in separate papers.
Abstract:
Assessing the Incidence of Microbial Keratitis in Low-Dk CL Wear
Researchers reviewed the incidence of microbial keratitis with extended wear of low oxygen transmissible (Dk/t) disposable
contact lenses in 790 subjects enrolled at the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), Hyderabad, India from March 1993 to March 2000 (resulting in 1231
patient eye years) and 167 subjects enrolled at the Cornea and the Contact Lens Research Unit (CCLRU), Sydney, Australia from July 1987 to December
1999 (resulting in 842 patient eye years). The annualized incidence of microbial keratitis per 10,000 eyes per year of lens wear was 32.5 for LVPEI
and 23.8 for CCLRU. When the researchers combined data across both centers, the incidence was 28.9 per 10,000 eyes per year of lens wear. All events
were rated as slight to moderate in severity and didn't result in visual loss. Two events were described to highlight the challenges in the diagnosis
and treatment of microbial keratitis. The researchers concluded that the incidence of microbial keratitis with extended wear of low-Dk/t disposable
lenses was higher in these prospective studies (1 in 210 wearers per year at CCLRU and 1 in 154 wearers per year at LVPEI) than that seen in
retrospective population-based surveillance studies (1 in 500 wearers per year). They recommend that practitioners and patients be alert to signs
and symptoms and that practitioners should adopt conservative strategies for the diagnosis and management of contact lens-related adverse
events.
Holden BA, Sankaridurg PR, Sweeney DF, Stretton S, Naduvilath TJ, Rao GN. Microbial Keratitis in Prospective Studies of Extended
Wear with Disposable Hydrogel Contact Lenses. Cornea 2005 March;24(2):156-161.
Editor's Commentary:
There's Enough CL CE if You Look for It
I read with interest about your readers' concern that there isn't enough CL CE available at major
meetings (Editor's Commentary, CLToday March 6). While I can't speak for all other meetings, I can speak for the American Academy
of Optometry (AAO). A quick glance at the annual meeting of the AAO in Tampa reveals 17 individual CE courses of one- and two-hour duration
that provided an attendee with 23 hours of CL-related education. In addition, the Section on Cornea and Contact Lenses provided a two-hour
symposium and the combined Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology/AAO Symposium provided another four hours on adaptive optics
that incorporated contact lenses. If you add in the innumerable number of posters and papers, I'm sure that you'd be able to keep an attendee
in contact lens-related education all day for all four days of the meeting. -Mark W. Eger, O.D., FAAO; Coraopolis, Pa.
We will
have more comments on this topic in future issues. This year's American Academy of Optometry meeting in December is in San Diego.
Try http://www.aaoptom.org for more information.
Fitting Tip:
CL Dispensing Opinions
After reading the fitting tips from the past few weeks, different philosophies seem to exist regarding the best way to
dispense disposable contact lenses and how to encourage the patient to purchase products within your office. I agree with Dr. Meltzer (CLToday,
February 20 edition) in that we'll also take contact lenses back and exchange them if the patient's prescription should change. However, we take
it one step further and will exchange any loose or single lenses as well. We make a one-for-one exchange and will dispense lenses from our fitting
inventory and place the old lenses back into the same inventory. Rarely will there be more than two or three lenses to exchange. We try to compete
on a price point, and although this is a hard battle to win, we always try to make the difference in our extra service.
--Bruce Anderson, O.D.,
F.A.A.O.
Tampa, Fla.
In our office, we take back any spherical lens in unopened packages -- even if the seal to the box is broken. The exchange will be for an
equal number of lenses if we have open boxes. If not, we charge the difference to complete boxes. If it's a single lens that needs exchange, then
we'll give the patient a trial lens. At the end of the year, we typically have two or three open boxes in our inventory. Out of an inventory of 400
boxes, this is a more than acceptable number.
--Jim Thompson, O.D.
North Vancouver, Canada
Congratulations to Daniel S.
Meltzer, O.D., winner of February's CLToday Fitting Tip of the Month.
Pencil in Your Plans for the Global Orthokeratology Symposium (GOS)
(July 28 to 31, 2005 in Chicago, Ill. -- for the first time in the U.S.A.)
Learn how to manage and market your overnight
orthokeratology practice.
--ADVERTISING
Report adverse contact lens reactions
here: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/ or call
(800) FDA-1088.
This month at
http://www.siliconehydrogels.org,
challenge any lingering doubts about the benefits of these lenses, read about
the advantages of using a proactive approach to contact lens fitting and learn
about the benefits of these lenses for contact lens-wearing patients who have
seasonal allergies.