CONTACT LENSES TODAY
May 13, 2007
Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This
week CLToday® reaches more than 12,000 readers in 74 countries.
Contact Lens Consumer Health Protection Act
Representative Mike Ross (D-Ark.) introduced the Contact Lens Consumer Health Protection Act (HR 2012) to the U.S. House
of Representatives on April 24th. HR 2012 seeks to amend the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (FCLCA) to require all contact lens sellers to
provide a toll-free phone number and dedicated e-mail address for the purpose of receiving communication from prescribers. It would also:
• Stipulate
that when a prescriber communicates a question or concern about the accuracy of a prescription (Rx) to the seller, the seller must then obtain
affirmative confirmation of the accuracy of the Rx before it will be considered verified.
• Allow prescribers to provide a seller with written
notification stipulating the prescriber’s preferred method of communication for Rx verification requests.
• Mandate that no contact lens seller
overfill a Rx for contact lenses, defined as providing more lenses than the Rx specifies or more lenses than the number required to fill a Rx for the
period beginning on the date it is filled through it’s expiration date.
You can view the entire text of the proposed legislation
at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:1:./temp/~c110SwTYyS::
The Bill Is cosponsored by Reps. Thomas Allen (D-Me.), John
Boozman (R-Ark.), Thelma Drake (R-Va.), Ralph Hall (D-Texas) and Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.)
Prostaglandin Therapy Linked to Hyperemia
A study funded by Pfizer and presented at this year’s Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) meeting
revealed that differences in rates of red eye affect discontinuation rates of glaucoma patients’ prostaglandin analog medication. Researchers
retrospectively examined 13,977 patient claims and reviewed the charts of 300 of these patients, 225 of whom also participated in a survey on the
frequency and impact of prostaglandin-related adverse events.
They found initial pharmacy claims were for
latanoprost (Xalatan, Pfizer, 41%), timolol (Timoptic, Merck and generic, 23%), alpha adrenergics (12%), bimatoprost (Lumigan, Allergan, 12%),
travoprost (Travoprost, Alcon, 10%) and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (3%). Researchers found that more than 55% of patients were discontinued
from initial medication in the first 90 days of therapy.
During treatment, 90% of patients reported taking their medication
daily. However, analysis of patients’ refill data showed patients had a median medication possession rate of only 57% during the first
year of therapy. Investigators noted adverse events in 65% of charts reviewed with hyperemia being the most frequently reported adverse
event in 45% of all patients studied and 69% of those who were noted to have any ocular adverse events. Hyperemia was also persistent, noted
on more than one visit in 57% of patients who experienced this. Of the patients who had notations of hyperemia, 27% were discontinued from
initial prostaglandin therapy.
Johnson & Johnson’s The Vision Care Institute (TVCI)
has added a new address to it's website for easier
access, http://www.tvciedu.com. Visitors can view the curriculum, register for classes, take a virtual
tour of the facility's Jacksonville, Fla. headquarters and hear from students and faculty about their experience at TVCI.
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Contamac Announces Redesigned Website
To celebrate 20 years in the contact lens and intraocular lens industry, Contamac has redesigned its corporate
website and image. The new website, www.contamac.com, features new additions, including sections on the Contamac BV with a working lens cost
calculator and lathe specifications, the company’s research and development initiatives and more information on the complete range of materials and
accessories downloadable in a PDF format. Later this year, the company will add a resource center and section for professionals that will provide
information for students and industry professionals as well as educate contact lens wearers.
WCO Adopts Durban Declaration
The World Council of Optometry (WCO), along with the International Agency for the Prevention of
Blindness (IAPB), International Centre for Eyecare Education and International Council of Ophthalmology, adopted the Durban Declaration on Refractive
Error and Service Development. The Declaration aims to advocate public health strategies for an end to unnecessary blindness from uncorrected
refractive error. Among other goals, the Declaration resolves to create global awareness of the impact of refractive error and to strive to
overcome the barriers that prevent those with refractive error and low vision from obtaining the necessary services.
Vision Source Members Contribute to OGS
More than 200 Vision Source O.D.s joined the Optometry Giving Sight (OGS) Leaders Campaign, which aims to sign-up 500
optometrists to make regular contributions of $100 per month to help the estimated 250 million people throughout the world who do not have access to
basic vision care. OGS is a joint initiative of the World Optometry Foundation (WOF), the International Centre for Eyecare Education (ICEE) and the
International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). To sign up for the OGS Leaders Campaign,
visit http://www.givingsight.org, or call 1-888-OGS-GIVE.
Abstract:
Effect of Compliance Enhancement Strategy
Researchers at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Optometry recently conducted a study to the effectiveness
of a compliance enhancement strategy on the level of contact lens wearers’ compliance. They used patient questionnaires and microbiological examination
of the contact lenses, lens cases and care solutions to determine compliance levels. A total of 65 participants were divided into control and test
groups. The test group was given a regular, self-review exercise on proper lens handling once every three months for a year.
Of those patients
recruited, 60 completed the study and all showed some degree of non-compliance in contact lens and lens case care. The poorest levels of compliance were
associated with care of the lens case, which was also the most frequently contaminated item. The investigators report their compliance enhancement strategy
showed a significant difference in improved compliance between test and control groups in the care of the lens case only. They conclude that their strategy
did not appear to have a significant effect on the behavior of subject, with the exception of care of the lens case.
Yung AM, Boost MV, Cho
P, Yap M. The effect of a compliance enhancement strategy (self-review) on the level of lens care compliance and contamination of contact lenses and lens
care accessories. Clin Exp Optom. 2007 May;90(3):190-202.
Editor's Commentary:
The Case May be the Cause
Our abstract this week discusses contamination of the contact lens case as one of the most important issues in contact lens
care noncompliance and risk. My June editorial in Contact Lens Spectrum indicates that cases may best be cleaned with contact lens care
solution. Instruct your daily-wear patients to clean their cases daily with their lens care solution and to air dry it then in a place where the risk
of contamination is low.
CLToday Tip:
CL Application and Removal
If your patients have experienced difficulties with applying and removing contact lenses and are concerned about minimizing
cross contamination, the eyegenie (www.eyegenie.com ) is your solution. It is an external eyelid retractor that efficiently and hygienically allows
finger-free access to the eye. It is available through Wilson Ophthalmic.
Charles Putrino II, O.D.
Sarasota, Fla.
This month at http://www.siliconehydrogels.org, consider a strategy
for using SiH lenses to increase the success of your practice; investigate the potential for using SiH lenses in the treatment of dry-eye; review
the recent research into silicone hydrogels (SiH) presented at the American Academy of Optometry, and learn how the SiH market has evolved over
the past seven years.
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
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and city/state/country.
Visit Contact Lens Spectrum ( http://www.clspectrum.com ) for interactive clinical posters
and issue archives. Visit Contact Lenses Today for our Best Fitting Tips.
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