CONTACT LENSES TODAY

June 29, 2003

Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This week CLToday® reaches 9,314 readers in 74 countries.

2003 Welcomes Five New Inductees to Hall of Fame
The National Optometry Hall of Fame plans to induct five new members during a ceremony in Cleveland in October. The 2003 inductees are H. Ward Ewalt, OD, (the first optometric consultant to the Surgeon General of the United States Army); Irving Fatt, PhD, (in innovator of rigid gas permeable and hydrophilic contact lenses); Richard L. Hopping, OD, DOS, DSc, (past president of the American Optometric Association); George W. Mertz, OD, (a pioneering researcher in contact lenses); and Harold A. Solan, OD, MA, COVD, (chief emeritus of the SUNY Learning Disabilities Clinic).

Keefer and Levy Join AOF Board
The American Optometric Foundation (AOF) has announced that Mr. Philip Keefer, president of Vistakon Americas, and Dr. Brian Levy, vice president of Medical and Clinical Affairs at Bausch & Lomb, have joined its Board of Directors.

Opti-Free Express Lasting Comfort No Rub Multi-Purpose Disinfecting Solution achieved the highest loyalty rate among multi-purpose solutions buyers with 73% of their total ounce purchases awarded to Opti-Free Express Lasting Comfort No Rub Formula. The brand loyalty rate for Opti-Free Express was 10% higher than for ReNu and 12% higher than for Complete.* http://www.norub.com.
*Data Source: ACNielsen Household panel data 52 weeks ending November 23, 2002.
--ADVERTISING

Alcon and VCA Educational Efforts Encourage Eye Exams
Through its Opti-Free Express brand, Alcon, Inc. is teaming up with the Vision Council of America (VCA) to generate awareness of the importance of eye exams for school-age children as part of the Check Yearly. See Clearly. national vision health awareness initiative. Together, Alcon and VCA will launch a special Opti-Free Express Back to School program that contains co-branded educational and promotional materials for eyecare professionals to use to help educate parents.

B&L Announces New Program
Bausch & Lomb reports that more than 8,000 eyecare professionals have enrolled in its ReNu Eye Health Rewards program, which provides free contact lenses and discounts to practitioners as a way to reward their patients who follow prescribed lens care regimens. The company updated the program last week to give participating doctors more flexibility for the product incentives we provide to them. You can find more information about this program at http://www.bausch.com.

CIBA Launches New Lens, New Campaign
CIBA Vision just launched a new generation of enhancing color contact lenses, FreshLook Dimensions, designed specifically for light eyes. Dimensions lenses combine a charcoal outer starburst pattern with translucent hues that add depth and dimension.

Beginning next week, CIBA Vision will air a new marketing campaign, which includes television and consumer magazine advertisements, a redesigned Web site (http://www.freshlookcontacts.com), a summer concert tour, a new logo and new packaging, to promote its FreshLook color contact lens brand. The campaign will target women ages 18 to 24 and the television portion, called Zoom, will air on stations including MTV, WV, UPN, E! and Comedy Central. You'll notice the print campaign in magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Allure and Estylo starting in the July issues.

Abstract: 'Out Cold' From CL Insertion
Researchers in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine recently reported two cases of patients who fell unconscious because of the oculocardiac reflex when attempting to wear contact lenses. In both cases, a 15-year-old boy and a 22-year-old man became unconscious as soon as their eyes were compressed while applying a hard contact lens. Neither patient had worn glasses or contact lenses before this event and both recovered consciousness after approximately 10 minutes. Both patient tried to insert contact lenses again after one week while avoiding compression of the eyes and had no problem. They are currently wearing contact lenses without any problems and the researchers conclude that the insertion of contact lenses may rarely provoke the oculocardiac reflex.
Mimura, T; Amano, S; Funatsu, H; Araie, M; Kagaya, F; Kaji, Y; Oshika, T; Yamagami, S; Okada, E. Oculocardiac Reflex Caused By Contact Lenses. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt 2003 May;23(3):263-4.

Editor's Commentary: AOA Congress: Optometry's Meeting Made Me Feel Good
Last week at the AOA Congress in San Diego, I found the enthusiasm toward contact lens practice and the mood of pharmaceutical companies inspiring. There seemed to be serious interest in contact lens courses regarding new modalities. It seemed that all the manufacturers -- large and small -- made a point to maximize their education of eyecare practitioners. With the American Optometric Student Association there in force as well, this is a good opportunity to interface directly with future eyecare practitioners.

Fitting Tip: Dealing With the 'Latent' Hyperope
After several years of practice, I've learned to recognize the certain "refractive types" that weren't well described in training. One of these is my version of the latent hyperope. Although there is plenty of deviation from this stereotype, the majority of mine are 30-something females who complain of both near and distance blur with fatigue. These patients are usually blue collar and notoriously unaware that they had any refractive abnormality. They may have worn glasses in the past but stopped wearing them because they "made everything blurry."

Explaining the disorder is almost as difficult as correcting it. Time has demonstrated that soft contact lens correction is the most effective way to go. The trick, however, is not letting them accommodate. I check their acuities binocularly only and overrefract using binocular methods as well. This way I avoid their overactive accommodative response and the mental discouragement of blur. The goal with these folks, as with LASIK patients, is making them "20/happy."
--David Todd, OD, Melbourne, Fla.

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