Bausch & Lomb (B&L) has named Peter Valenti III as Corporate Vice President and Global President, Vision Care, effective July 1. Mr. Valenti replaces Stuart Heap, who has chosen to step down from his current role with B&L for personal reasons. Mr. Heap will remain an active strategic advisor to the company.
     Mr. Valenti joined B&L in January 2009 as President, North America, Vision Care. Before joining B&L, he served as Vice President and General Manager, Surgical Devices (U.S.), for Covidien from 2007 to 2008. Prior, Valenti spent 12 years with Johnson & Johnson in a variety of U.S. and international roles across consumer, pharmaceutical and device businesses. These included positions as Vice President, Global Strategy, and Vice President, U.S. Marketing, both in Vision Care. He has also held brand management roles with Procter & Gamble Co. He holds an MBA from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University, and a bachelor's degree from the University of Connecticut.
     In conjunction with Mr. Valenti's transition to his new role, the company has named Steven F. Robins as President, North America, Vision Care.
     Mr. Robins joins B&L with approximately two decades of consumer healthcare experience at leading companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Warner Lambert. Most recently, he was General Manager, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Healthcare Canada, and a Vice President of the Johnson & Johnson Consumer Group. Prior, he held marketing and category management leadership positions with Pfizer Inc., and product management positions with Warner Lambert Company's consumer healthcare group. He holds a bachelor's degree from Bates College.

SynergEyes, Inc., the high Dk hybrid contact lens manufacturer, has expanded the parameters of the SynergEyes Multifocal hybrid contact lens for presbyopia specifically to address emerging presbyopes. The SynergEyes Multifocal lens is now available in a +0.75D add power in addition to the three add powers (+1.25D, +1.75D and +2.25D) previously offered.
     "Emerging presbyopes typically start off with monovision contact lenses, which require the patient to compromise their intermediate vision and their depth perception," said Wes Wheadon, OD. "Having a lower add power available will enable practitioners to fit the lens on more emerging presbyopes and optimize visual acuity at all distances."
     "Based on customer feedback, we realized there was a need to expand the parameters of the SynergEyes Multifocal lens to fit an even wider range of patients and give them the best possible near, distance, and intermediate vision," said Kellie Kaseburg, Vice President, Global Marketing, SynergEyes, Inc.
     For more information, visit www.synergeyes.com.

In last week's announcement of the availability of the free educational brochure, Healthy Eyes for Peak Performance, there was an error in the email address for ordering copies. To order a set (50 brochures) for your office, please e-mail your request to peakperformance@inkandroses.com. Make sure to include your name and complete address, including zip code. If you ordered last week using the incorrect address, please resend your order.
     We apologize for any inconvenience.

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

According to a new study, VSP Vision Care helps save its customers nearly $3 billion annually on healthcare costs associated with the treatment of chronic diseases detectable via an eye examination.
     The study was undertaken by Human Capital Management Services, Inc. (HCMS) on behalf of VSP and showed that VSP client companies are realizing these savings for the early detection of diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol, in the first year alone, directly related to health plan, disability and employee termination costs.
     HCMS's study analyzed these costs for five major U.S. corporations with a total of 90,000 employees and found that the early disease detection that VSP Vision Care's regular comprehensive eye exams offer saved companies and their employees money and valuable time. Specifically, companies save nearly $2,900 annually on medical related costs for each employee with diabetes, when the disease is detected early.
     "Vision benefits are often seen as a non-core healthcare service, but the HCMS data shows vision care benefits help lower corporate providers' long-term healthcare liabilities, with early detection of chronic diseases for employees," said Rob Lynch, CEO of VSP.
     Of the 3.6 million VSP Vision Care members living with diabetes and hypertension who had an eye exam last year, over 25 percent received early treatment for their chronic disease as a result of their VSP eye doctor, according to the HCMS study.

Dr. Hidenari Tanaka, President and CEO of Menicon Co., Ltd. and President of the Japan Contact Lens Association, was appointed as Singapore's Honorary Consul-General in Nagoya, Japan, by the government of the Republic of Singapore. The appointment was effective April 20, 2009.
     Dr. Tanaka, an ophthalmologist by training, will represent the interest of the country of Singapore and its people in central Japan. In addition, Dr. Tanaka's office will be handling consular matters.
     "I am very gratified to have been selected for this post," Dr. Tanaka said. "I look forward to doing my utmost to strengthen social, cultural and commercial ties between Japan and Singapore."
     Singapore is the site of Menicon's new state-of-the-art research and manufacturing facility, which will produce Menicon's new daily disposable contact lenses, scheduled to be launched in a few years.

January 28-31, 2010 · Bally's Hotel & Casino · Las Vegas, NV
With an expert international faculty and a CE-accredited agenda, the 2010 GSLS will include insightful presentations by leaders in the field, hands-on demonstrations of cutting-edge products and valuable continuing education credits. This comprehensive specialty lens symposium offers COPE, JCAHPO and NCLE accreditation* for 17+ hours as well as free papers, posters, manufacturer forums and exhibits. Nearly 500 participants, including 350 eye care professionals from 28 countries, attended the meeting in 2009 and praised the course content, meeting management, exhibits and venue. Plan now to join us in 2010!
     Look for more detailed information in future issues of Contact Lens Spectrum as well as online at www.GSLSymposium.com.
*Approval pending
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The North Carolina State Optometric Society (NCSOS) announced that their executive council has voted to endorse Optometry Giving Sight, a global fundraising initiative aimed at addressing the needs of the more than 300 million people around the world who are blind or vision impaired simply because they do not have access to an eye exam and glasses.
     "We greatly appreciate the initiative of the NCSOS executive council to publicly support the efforts of Optometry Giving Sight and to encourage support from its members," said Dr. Victor J. Connors, Chairman and CEO of Optometry Giving Sight USA. "Optometry Giving Sight reaches out for funding to those who understand the value of quality vision care the best - the eye care industry. The support of the North Carolina association and its members will help give the gift of vision to many."
     In addition to North Carolina, Optometry Giving Sight has received endorsements from a number of state optometric associations including those in Maryland, Georgia, Texas, Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin, Colorado, North Central States, Southwest Council of Optometry, as well as the Contact Lens Manufacturer's Association and SECO International. For more information on Optometry Giving Sight, visit www.givingsight.org. 

Researchers investigated myopia progression in Correction of Myopia Evaluation Trial (COMET) participants who switched to soft contact lenses (CLs) as compared to those who remained in spectacles after the clinical trial ended.
     Four hundred sixty-nine ethnically diverse, 6 to 11 year old myopic children were randomly assigned to wear single vision lenses (SVLs) or progressive addition spectacle lenses (PALs) for 5 years as part of COMET. Afterwards they could choose another lens type, including CLs. Data in this article are from 286 participants who wore their original spectacle lenses for 6 years (n = 199) or wore CLs most or all the time between the 5 and 6 year visits (n = 87). Refractive error and axial length (AL) were measured after cycloplegia with 1% Tropicamide. The primary outcome was myopia progression between the 5 and 6 year visits. Two-year myopia progression was evaluated in a subset of 183 participants who wore the same lens type for an additional year. Myopia progression and AL were compared between the two lens groups using multiple linear regression.
     Participants in the two groups were similar with respect to age, ethnicity, myopia at 5 years, accommodation and phoria, but more girls switched to CLs than remained in spectacles (p < 0.0001). Mean (+/-SD) myopia progression was higher (p = 0.003) after one year in the CL group [-0.28+/- 0.33 diopter (D)] than the spectacle group (-0.14+/- 0.36 D), and remained higher after 2 years in the two-year subset (-0.52+/- 0.46 D vs.-0.25+/- 0.39 D, p < 0.0001). Results were similar after adjustment for related factors. No significant differences in AL were found between groups after adjustment. Corneal curvature remained unchanged in both groups.
     The researchers concluded that COMET children switching from glasses to CLs experienced a small, statistically significant but clinically inconsequential increase in myopia progression.
Marsh-Tootle WL, Dong LM, Hyman L et al. Myopia Progression in Children Wearing Spectacles vs. Switching to Contact Lenses. Optom Vis Sci 2009.

Our colleagues in the myopia community continue to conduct and report on critically important research that is of tremendous value to contact lens practice. This week's abstract is yet another piece of evidence showing that soft contact lenses are not associated with myopia progression. Most of this research to date has been done using traditional hydrogel lenses, rather than silicone hydrogel lenses, and most would suspect that silicone hydrogels would be even more beneficial in this regard.
Jason J. Nichols, OD, MPH, PhD, FAAO

This month at www.siliconehydrogels.org: the relationship between wettability and comfort; corneal ecstasia vs. corneal warpage; best lenses for aging eyes; and the effect of contact lens materials on physiology.