CONTACT LENSES TODAY

May 1, 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.

B&L PureVision™ Contact Lenses Return to U.S. Market
Bausch & Lomb’s silicone hydrogel lens will be available in the United States once again, following the recent successful resolution of a patent dispute with CIBA Vision. Eye care practitioners across the U.S. soon will receive the sets, containing a range of PureVision lens prescription powers, to help fit their patients. More information is available at http://www.purevision.com.
CIBA Vision and CooperVision Reach Settlement in Color CL Patent Suit
CIBA Vision Corporation announced a settlement agreement terminating its pending patent infringement lawsuit against Ocular Sciences, Inc. (OSI), recently purchased by The Cooper Companies. The suit filed in 2002 claimed that CooperVision’s (formerly OSI's) Biomedics Colors contact lenses infringed patents that protect CIBA Vision's color technology. CIBA Vision has agreed to license these patents to CooperVision globally in return for a royalty on the sale of Biomedics Colors lenses. CooperVision will also have a limited ability to sell colored lenses under the CoverGirl mark and private labels and is required to pay a royalty to CIBA Vision for these sales as well.
AMO and VISX Select Special Meeting Date for Proposed Merger
Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. and VISX, Incorporated have selected May 26, 2005 as the date for their special meetings of stockholders concerning their planned merger. Stockholders of record as of the close of business on April 14, 2005 of both companies will be entitled to vote at the special meetings. The transaction is expected to close shortly thereafter.

ACUVUE ADVANCE Brand Contact Lenses with HYDRACLEAR provide 97% of all the oxygen that would be available if you weren’t wearing lenses at all. However, there are many other valuable properties besides oxygen that may influence long-term corneal health, comfort and, ultimately, patient satisfaction. These properties include moisture, modulus (stiffness), UV protection and lens design and fit. ACUVUE ADVANCE with HYDRACLEAR delivers all the oxygen benefits of silicone, while providing all day comfort, Class 1 UV protection†* and the fit and feel of a traditional hydrogel.
† Helps protect against transmission of harmful UV radiation to the cornea and into the eye.
* WARNING: UV-absorbing contact lenses are NOT substitutes for protective UV-absorbing eyewear such as UV-absorbing goggles or sunglasses because they do not completely cover the eye and surrounding area. You should continue to use UV-absorbing eyewear as directed. NOTE: Long term exposure to UV radiation is one of the risk factors associated with cataracts. Exposure is based on a number of factors such as environmental conditions (altitude, geography, cloud cover) and personal factors (extent and nature of outdoor activities). UV-Blocking contact lenses help provide protection against harmful UV radiation. However, clinical studies have not been done to demonstrate that wearing UV-Blocking contact lenses reduces the risk of developing cataracts or other eye disorders. Consult your eye care practitioner for more information.
http://www.ecp.acuvue.com
--ADVERTISING
B&L to Endow RIT Professorship
The Bausch & Lomb Foundation is committing $2.5 million dollars to fund the B&L Endowed Chair in Microsystems Engineering, based in Rochester Institute of Technology’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering. B&L and RIT will also collaborate on the development of several research programs that could involve additional funding of $2.5 million over the next five years. Research projects under consideration include advanced microsystems and technologies to diagnose, monitor and treat eye disease; the development of bio-degradable devices for sustained drug delivery to the eye; and accommodating intraocular lenses to provide presbyopic vision correction for cataract surgery patients.
Adoption of Silicone Hydrogel Lenses Accelerates
According to CIBA Vision, just released data from the A.C. Nielsen Company reveals rapidly expanding demand for all types of silicone hydrogel contact lenses. For the bimonthly reporting period ending in February 2005, audited U.S. retail sales of silicone hydrogel lenses increased by 161% over the same period the previous year, driving total soft contact lens sales up 12%. Silicone hydrogels accounted for 19.4% of soft lens retail sales, compared to just 8.3% in January/February 2004.
The continuous wear segment of the silicone hydrogel market also continues to expand rapidly, up 41% in retail sales during the first two months this year.
Ophthonix Z-View Aberrometer Wins Medical Design Excellence Award
The Ophthonix Z-View Aberrometer, designed by DD STUDIO, was recently honored with a 2005 Medical Design Excellence Award (MDEA). The MDEA competition recognizes contributions and advances in the design of medical products.
The Z-View allows eye care practitioners to diagnose and correct their patients’ optical imperfections including higher order aberrations, which cause problems such as image fuzziness, glare sensitivity and halos. The Z-View’s Wavefront-guided prescriptions offer eye care patients a non-surgical alternative for high definition vision, according to Ophthonix.
Abstract: The Expanding Role of Scleral Contact Lenses
This study reviewed the current indications for use of scleral contact lens (ScCL) management at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. A database of 1003 patients (1560 eyes) seen between September 1999 and May 2003, either assessed for a ScCL trial or to follow up previously issued lenses, was analyzed. The major indication groups were: keratoconus or other primary corneal ectasia (PCE), corneal transplant, and ocular surface disease (OSD). Small groups included aphakia, myopia, and ptosis. A total of 538 patients continued lens wear in 1 or both eyes, for a total of 808 eyes. Seven hundred twenty lenses (89.1%) were rigid gas permeable (GP), 708 were non-ventilated, and 12 were fenestrated; 88 (10.9%) were ventilated polymethylmethacrylate or ptosis props. ScCLs continue to play a significant role in the management of corneal abnormalities, especially PCE, corneal transplant, and OSD. The great majority of lenses in use are GP designs.
Pullum KW, Whiting MA, Buckley RJ. Scleral Contact Lenses: The Expanding Role. Cornea 2005 April; 24(3):269-77.
Editor's Commentary: Recommendations for Today’s Savvy Patient
This week there is a lot of news in our field. From reintroduced products to aberration correction to new research to yes, scleral lenses. We hope we are keeping you as up to date as we can. Let us know if we are missing something or if you have suggestions.
Our field has never been more challenging due to the many alternatives we have for patient care. Whether you adopt new technology or you don't, waiting to see what really works to your satisfaction, make sure you explain to your patients with a strong recommendation why you recommend what you recommend because most of them come to your office very well informed.
Fitting Tip: Sometimes Change is Good
Not a day goes by that a patient doesn’t say, “Everything is fine with my contact lenses. I’ll just take another supply!” I came up with a way to communicate in layman’s terms that staying with what they have, though comfortable, isn’t the healthiest and most “hi-tech.”
So now I say, “Just think of your contact lenses as computers. Nothing is wrong with a two-year-old computer but, as you know, now it’s just slow with old technology. Let’s bring your contact lenses up to date with newer technology that lets more oxygen in to your eyes.”
Because everyone can understand how fast computers change, they then have no problem understanding why their contact lenses should be brought up to date with silicone hydrogels.
-- Ann Kurzer, O.D.
Dayton, OH
Get Geared Up for the Global Orthokeratology Symposium (GOS)
(July 28 to 31, 2005 in Chicago, Ill. -- for the first time in the U.S.A.)
Get the tools to implement orthokeratology in your practice. Register by June 30, 2005 to save $65 off the full symposium price.
This month at http://www.siliconehydrogels.org, consider the potential of silicone hydrogels for patients who have irregular astigmatism, compare subjective and objective means of measuring corneal staining, review the features that increase a solution’s compatibility with silicone hydrogel materials and read the results of a study evaluating the cytotoxic potential of various solutions.
Report adverse contact lens reactions here: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/ or call (800) FDA-1088.
Access a reporting form for complications you've seen that were a result of contact lenses dispensed without a valid prescription at the Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry's (ARBO's) Web site: http://www.arbo.org/arbo.asp?dt=R&doc=Complications. Complete and send the form online or print it out and fax it to (866) 886-6164.
Send your favorite tips to tips@cltoday.com -- if your tip is selected as 'Best of the Month,' you'll receive a free golf shirt (see http://www.CLToday.com for details). Please include your full name, degree or title and city/state/country.
Visit Contact Lens Spectrum ( http://www.clspectrum.com ) for interactive clinical posters, issue archives and discussion forums. Visit Contact Lenses Today for our Best Fitting Tips and Photo Clinic, sponsored by Ocular Sciences.
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