CONTACT LENSES TODAY

July 7, 2002

Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This week CLToday® reaches 8,596 readers in 74 countries.

PureVision Lenses Back in Production
Bausch & Lomb resumed selling and producing its PureVision silicone hydrogel lenses after obtaining a temporary stay of an injunction issued by a U.S. District Court judge. Production and sales were halted for 2 days after the court found in favor of CIBA Vision’s wholly owned subsidiary, Wesley Jessen, in a patent-infringement suit against B&L. The suit involves various silicone hydrogel materials. The temporary stay is in effect while B&L appeals the original ruling in the patent suit. The company hopes to have a decision from the Court of Appeals within 2 weeks.

First Daily Disposable Toric Now in Switzerland
CIBA Vision has launched the first daily disposable contact lens for astigmatism, Focus Dailies Toric, in Switzerland. The company says the lenses will be available in other countries in the near future.
The back-surface toric lens is available with -0.75D cylinder. Base curve is 8.6 mm; diameter is 14.2 mm lens; spherical powers are from -0.50D to -6.00D in 0.25D steps, in axis 180° and 90°. The lenses will be available in packs of 30.

PROCLEAR COMPATIBLES – GET COMFORTABLE
All day comfort, all month long – Cooper Vision’s Proclear Compatibles monthly replacement lenses remain moist and comfortable, even after 12 hours of wear. Unlike ordinary lenses, Proclear Compatibles attract and bind water, forming a shield of water around the lens to provide relief to the 50% of wearers experiencing discomfort and dryness. Value pricing on annual supply available with 1-STOP. http://www.coopervision.com
--ADVERTISING

AOA Joins VisionWeb
The American Optometric Association is the newest equity participant in the Internet portal, VisionWeb. Other VisionWeb equity partners are: Allergan; Essilor of America; Johnson & Johnson Vision Care; Jobson Publishing; and Marchon Eyewear.

Beachside Vendors Hawk Colored Lenses
Doctors in Myrtle Beach, S.C., are seeing quite a few eye injuries as a result of poorly fitted contact lenses and incorrect use, reports the Sun News. Most of the patients are teenage or young-adult tourists who bought their colored lenses in unmarked vials at beachwear stores.

Online Tool Promotes Nutrition
Eye on Nutrition is a new online dietary assessment tool for you and your patients, developed by the AOA and the Vitamin Nutrition Information Service. It features a quiz that reveals the user’s behavior patterns, eye-health history and dietary habits. The program evaluates the responses and provides personalized tips on how the user can improve his behavior and diet to protect his eyes from developing cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. http://www.aoa.org/eyeonnutrition.

Editor's Commentary: Safe Summer Fun
Independence Day, July 4, is one of the highlights of the summer season in the United States. We often mark the occasion with outdoor activities, barbecues and fireworks. Too many eye injuries occur around this time every year because of carelessness. Although contact lenses can protect the cornea, they’re no substitute for safety glasses or avoiding projectiles altogether. One other good thing, most contact lenses absorb UV light and, in that sense, add a level of protection. Again, good UV-absorbing sunwear is always a good idea when you partake of those summertime rays.

Fitting Tip: GP Converts Love Good Vision
When fitting GP lenses, it’s critical to let your patients experience the number one benefit of this modality — good quality vision — as soon as possible. That’s why I recommend either fitting from inventory or using a good empirical design for single-vision lenses. This is especially beneficial with soft lens refits. These patients may experience some initial awareness with GPs, but their first reaction is often, “I’ve never been able to see this well.”
--Edward Bennett, O.D., M.S.Ed.

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