CONTACT LENSES TODAY

September 1, 2002

Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This week CLToday® reaches 8,784 readers in 74 countries.

Cosmetic CL Deregulation Looms
The FDA is considering deregulating cosmetic plano CLs to a non-medical device. The FDA's Chief Counsel, Daniel E. Troy, says that such products cannot be classified as medical devices because they are not marketed to correct a vision problem. But as Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) states in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, "Contact lenses all qualify as medical devices in the third part of [the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act's definition of a medical device] -- as a product that is 'intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man.'" In his letter, Rep. Waxman warns that deregulating colored contact lenses "would also establish a precedent that could lead to the deregulation of many more potentially hazardous prescription drugs and devices." The AOA agrees with Congressman Waxman and its President, J. Pat Cummings, O.D., sent a statement to the FDA echoing similar sentiments. To see Rep. Waxman's entire letter, visit http://www.house.gov/reform/min/pdfs/pdf_inves/pdf_medi_contact_lense_lett_8_26.pdf

CL Prescription Regulations May Change
An August 26 ABC News story discussed that federal law requires practitioners to release spectacle prescriptions to patients, but the rule for contact lenses varies from state to state. Congress is considering a bill requiring the release of contact lens prescriptions. In fact, a new law, which proponents say may save patients roughly $10 per purchase, is awaiting a signature by California's governor. To track the progress of bill AB 2020, as well as analyses and actions, go to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery

New CL Coating Repels Bacteria
A study using selenium-coated contact lenses showed that rabbits that wore the lenses for two consecutive months experienced no ill effects. The naturally occurring element selenium kills bacteria by forming superoxide radicals. Dipping the lens in the one-molecule-thick coating will protect against bacteria for up to two years. Researchers are investigating other possible applications for selenium coatings, such as preventing secondary cataracts and inactivating the AIDS virus.

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CIBA Trains Workshop Leaders
CIBA Vision recently launched a training program for U.S. and Canadian eyecare practitioners interested in fitting Focus Progressives and Focus Dailies Progressives multifocal contact lenses. Seventeen practitioners have completed the training, enabling them to serve as workshop leaders to help other practitioners build their presbyopic contact lens practices. The workshops are held in interested practices and are arranged by that practice's CIBA Vision sales representative.

OSI to Offer CLs Online at Eyefinity.com
Ocular Sciences has partnered with Eyefinity to offer its soft contact lenses to eyecare practitioners online at eyefinity.com beginning in the fall of 2002. OSI is one of only two contact lens manufacturers (along with CIBA Vision) that Eyefinity will feature on its new online purchasing center that offers preferred pricing discounts on annual supply quantities of soft contact lenses for private practices, including VSP's doctor network.

Editor's Commentary: FDA and Cosmetic Lenses
Published reports in the lay press that someone is pressuring the FDA to make cosmetic contact lenses available like make up (without an Rx) is preposterous. Oh sure, some manufacturer who wants more free enterprise may say that requiring an Rx is just a ploy to put money in practitioners' pockets. I support free enterprise, but this is a public health issue. Trading infected lenses, selling lenses at flea markets and in beauty parlors with no fitting, care instructions and follow up is criminal.

Fitting Tip: Vertexing and Monovision Confusion
This week's tip is interactive. Anhton Le, O.D., of Las Vegas asks: In calculating the contact lens power for the near eye, should I vertex the spectacle prescription to the contact lens plane and then add the bifocal add to the contact lens power or should I add the bifocal to the spectacle prescription and then vertex back to the contact lens plane?

Take for example the spectacle prescription of a +5.00D hyperope with a +2.00 add. If I vertex +5.00 first and then add +2.00, then the contact lens power I'll get is +5.32 + 2.00 add = +7.32 for the near eye. If I simply add +5.00 and +2.00 to get +7.00 and then vertex +7.00, then the contact lens power I'll get is +7.64 for the left eye for near.

Depending on when I take the add into account (before or after vertexing), there's an approximate +0.25D difference. Which way is correct? Respond to tips@cltoday.com

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