CONTACT LENSES TODAY
May 27, 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.
Joe Barr Retires, Takes B&L Position, Carla Mack Appointed Editor
In late July, Joe Barr, O.D., M.S., F.A.A.O., editor of Contact Lens Spectrum and Contact Lenses Today, will retire from his editorial positions to become vice
president, global research and development for Bausch & Lomb’s (B&L) vision care business. He will be responsible for new product development of contact lenses and lens care solutions technologies, as well as the
day-to-day research activities of the division. Dr. Barr has served as the associate dean for clinical services and professional programs at the Ohio State University (OSU) College of Optometry. He is a
member of the college’s executive committee, director of the National Eye Institute-sponsored CLEK photography-reading center and a past chair of the American Academy of Optometry’s (AOA) section on Cornea
and Contact Lenses.
Carla Mack, O.D., F.A.A.O., has been appointed the new editor of Contact Lens Spectrum and Contact Lenses Today. Dr. Mack is currently associate professor of clinical
optometry at the OSU College of Optometry and has served as clinical columns editor on as Contact Lens Spectrum for more than two years. She has worked and practiced in many settings, including ophthalmology
and optometry practices, nursing homes and as chief of the OSU student health center clinic. She is currently director of campus optometry services at OSU and a diplomate of the AOA’s section on Cornea and
Contact Lenses.
AMO Interested in B&L
Advanced Medical Optic (AMO) is exploring the potential to acquire B&L, according to a statement issued in response to media reports regarding the company’s
interest. This follows B&L’s announcement of its acquisition agreement with Warburg Pincus (see
CLToday, Special Edition, May 16). “We believe it is only logical to explore this opportunity given the highly
complementary nature of our two business,” the statement reads, “We believe that the current transaction with Warburg Pincus undervalues B&L and we plan to enter the go-shop process with the intention of
exploring a superior offer for the company.” AMO notes any transaction would be subject to thorough due diligence and the Board of Directors’ approval.
June is Vision Research Month
Prevent Blindness America (PBA) has named June as Vision Research Awareness month. The group has established the PBA Investigator Awards to provide research grants that help
address the growing number of Americans at risk for blindness. It will announce the 2007 awardees in mid-June.
Dryness = Dropouts
What effect does contact lens dryness have in your contact lens practice? Of the 31 million soft contact lens wearers, 21 million, or 67%, self-report that eyes feel dry
during contact lens wear. There are nearly 2.7 million contact lens dropouts annually. Many of these dropouts say dryness was a major reason for discontinuing lens wear. Offering patients ACUVUE® OASYS™
Brand Contact Lenses with HYDRACLEAR™ Plus, a lens designed to meet the demands of contact lens wearers in environments that can make eyes feel tired and dry, can keep patients wearing their contact lenses
longer and boost your contact lens practice.
--ADVERTISING
CLSA Summer Management Conference
The Contact Lens Society of America’s (CLSA) Second Annual Summer Management conference will be held from Aug. 10th to 11th in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The theme of this year’s meeting is
Business Fitting Strategies to Improve Contact Lens Practice Success. CLSA member Craig Norman, F.C.L.S.A., will chair this year’s program, which will feature topics such as communicating with today’s contact
lens wearer, incorporating email marketing into your practice, emerging trends in contact lens industry, myopia management, lens care update and specialty lens use. The CLSA summer management conference is made
possible through educational grants from B&L, Boston Products group, CIBA Vision Corp., CooperVision, Fused Kontacts, SynergEyes and Johnson & Johnson’s Vistakon.
OcuDerma Offer
MediNiche, Inc., is offering eye care professionals a free counter display of OcuDerma for the cost of shipping and handling. OcuDerma is an ocular skin therapy gel that the company
says helps the skin around the eyes feel better and look younger. The package includes a counter display containing 18 0.5oz bottles and a free tester bottle for patient point-of-purchase trials, as well as
patient education information and handout materials. The offer is valid for new customers only, while supplies last. Visit
http://www.mediniche.com for more details.
Abstract:
Contrast Sensitivity Sport-tinted CLs
Investigators recently conducted a study comparing the contrast sensitivity of football players while wearing a sport-tinted lens with a clear lens, or no lens in the case of
emmetropic patients. They fit participants with either clear or sport-tinted contact lenses. They measured monocular contrast sensitivity on a sine-wave grating chart of four spatial frequencies, each with
decreasing contrast, first with the sport-tinted lens, then with the clear. Researchers then compared the results.
A total of 35 professional or collegiate football players age 18 to 32
participated. Testing completed at 3, 6, 12 and 18 cycles per degree (cpd) of spatial frequency found statistically significant improvement with the sport-tinted contact lenses. Researchers confirmed
the same results at 3 and 6 cpd within the emmetropic subgroup. They conclude that sport-tinted contact lenses appear to have a statistically significant effect on contrast sensitivity when worn by a
relatively low astigmatic or spherically refracted patient. The results also hold true enhancing sensitivity in emmetropic
patients. However, they also note that, overall, there does not appear to be
overwhelming evidence that sport-tinted lenses provide any clinically
significant difference when considering contrast enhancement. They suggest
individual practitioners evaluate each case.
Porisch E. Football players’ contrast sensitivity comparison when wearing amber sport-tinted or clear contact lenses. Optometry. 2007 May;78(5):232-5.
Editor's Commentary:
It's Been a Privilege
It has been a privilege to be the founding editor of CLToday and to follow the mentorship of Neal Bailey as the editor of Contact Lens Spectrum. I've
said many times that CLToday is one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. When I attend a meeting and people I’ve never met walk-up and say, "Thanks for your email," it’s an amazing feeling.
We were one of the first such email newsletters and I admit I was really skeptical in the beginning. I hope you will let us know what you would like to see in the future of CLToday.
Over the
next weeks, I will be working with the new editorial team to transition from the role of your editor. We would love to hear what you think would make CLToday even more useful to you and your staff or
to the field in general. Please let us know. To all of you who have sent us comments and tips in the past, please know how grateful we are for your support.
Fitting Tip:
Piggyback with Soft Lenses
I have been fitting keratoconic lenses for about 30 years. Since I started piggyback fitting four years ago, I have noted both an increase in comfort and a decrease in scarring
in all my patients. I think it’s essential to protect the cornea from the GP lens.
The best soft lens to use is usually a silicone hydrogel lens with a low plus power. Sometimes, you can just slip one
of these under a good GP cone fit without changing the GP fit. Other times, you’ll need to refit the GP over the soft lens to achieve the best visual acuity. The patient will always get more comfort with no dust
or debris getting under the GP and irritating the bare cornea as before.
C. Lee Mellinger, O.D.
via email.
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.
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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Lenses Today for our Best Fitting Tips.
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