CONTACT LENSES TODAY

June 2, 2002

Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This week CLToday® reaches 8,431 readers in 74 countries.


Mail-Order Firms Accountable in Kansas
Mail-order companies that sell contact lenses to Kansans now must register with the state, maintain detailed prescription records and provide a toll-free number for customers, reports the Wichita Eagle. The purpose of the law isn't to benefit O.D.s, says the Kansas Optometric Association, but to make sure doctors can verify that companies are dispensing current prescriptions.
Ads Boost Demand for Colored Lenses
Demand for cosmetic lenses, both opaque and enhancer, increased 20% to 25% in North America during the first quarter of 2002, reports CIBA Vision. The analysis is based on sales trends of major optical retailers and CIBA sales reports. The company credits increased advertising of cosmetic lenses for a surge in traffic to practitioners’ offices.
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Hydrogel Vision Secures Private Funding
Look for new materials and toric lenses from Hydrogel Vision Corp., thanks to an infusion of new money by a private equity partner over the next 2 years. Hydrogel Vision is a subsidiary of Benz Research and Development and the maker of Extreme H2O soft contact lenses.
CIBA Is CL Leader in Europe
CIBA Vision increased its overall market share of soft and rigid contact lenses in Europe by 3.6% to 32.1% in 2001, according to GfK Marketing Services, an independent market research firm in Nürnberg, Germany. This increase was attributed to sales of Focus Night & Day, Focus Dailies and Focus Progressives.
Washington Aims to Protect Human Research Subjects
Lawmakers have proposed a bipartisan bill to give human subjects the legal right to be informed of researchers' conflicts of interest. The law would require researchers conducting studies with tax dollars to disclose their conflicts of interest to both patients and institutional review boards. The proposed law includes no civil or criminal penalties on researchers, institutions or companies who break the law. "We want to see how well compliance works with what we've proposed," said a House Democratic aide.
Refractive Surgery Complicates CL Fitting
Clinicians at the Jules Stein Eye Institute have confirmed what many of you already know: Corneas altered by either incisional or lamellar refractive surgery are more challenging to fit with contact lenses than nonsurgically altered eyes. These eyes require more lenses and chair time, while resulting in slightly poorer contact lens corrected vision and more failures. The article, “Complexity of Contact Lens Fitting After Refractive Surgery,” appears in the May issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology.
Readers Write Back: Refractive Battle: CLs vs. Refractive Surgery vs. Corneal Refractive Therapy
A previous writer quoted Cynthia Roberts and reminded us that the cornea isn’t a piece of plastic. Indeed, many contact lens practitioners have spent the past 30 years trying NOT to distort the cornea and treat it like a piece of moldable plastic, yet all the orthokeratology and corneal refractive therapy (CRT) practitioners are trying to do just that. On top of that, the patient STILL has the hassle of removal, cleaning and lens wear -- one reason why they go for LASIK in the first place. Also, we’re seeing Asian patients in our part of the world who are being led to believe that ortho-k is a permanent reversal of their myopia! In my world, CRT is an abbreviation for the humble cathode ray tube (TV/computer monitor) so why do we have to have this 'new' term for ortho-k?
Alan P. Saks, M.C.Optom., Dip. Optom., F.A.A.O., FCLS, Auckland, New Zealand

Editor's Commentary: From Across the Pond
It was great to be in England last weekend for the British Contact Lens Association meeting. The BCLA makes one feel like contact lenses are alive and well. Our tip this week is from that meeting, and more extensive reports will appear in Contact Lens Spectrum. Brien Holden’s comments about how and why the contact lens field should grow four times larger were inspirational. One thought that struck me was how we need to manage GPC or CLPC with topical medications if patients insist on staying in extended-wear or continuous-wear lenses.

Fitting Tip: Cheers! And How to Manage Multifocal GP CLs
Brian Tompkins and Shelly Bansal imitated famous British comedians Baddiel and Skinner while teaching their audience how to fit and manage GP multifocal patients. Here are a couple concise tips: “Don’t fit wrinklies (presbyopes) who fold their pajamas or have a crease in their jeans.” Regarding corneal distortion with these lenses: “Don't worry, it’s just like tight knickers.”
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