CONTACT LENSES TODAY
September 16, 2007
Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Carla Mack and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This week CLToday® reaches more than 12,000 readers in 74 countries.
B&L Provides Proxy Information, Receives FDA Approval for Boston XO2
Bausch & Lomb (B&L) announced that four independent U.S. proxy advisory firms have recommended shareholders vote for the proposed transaction with Warburg Pincus at the company’s
special meeting of shareholders on September 21 (see
CLToday, May 16, 2007). “Given that the Warburg Pincus buyout offer provides certainty of value to current shareholders, we believe that the
merger agreement warrants shareholder support,” said one company’s analysis.
In additional news, the FDA granted approval for the company’s Boston XO2 GP contact lens material for daily wear
for patients with myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, presbyopia. It may also be used for daily wear orthokeratology and in the
management of irregular corneal conditions such as keratoconus, pellucid marginal degeneration and following refractive surgery or penetrating keratoplasty. The company says the new material allows 40% more oxygen
to reach the eye than the original Boston XO material. It has a DK value of 141 and can be machined in all custom lens geometries and parameters. It is available in a variety of handling tints, with or without UV
absorbers and in diameters up to 21mm for specialty fitting applications.
ABB-Con-Cise President Retires
After 48 years with ABB-Con-Cise, Mr. Carl Moore, President, has announced his retirement. Mr. Moore was involved with the design, manufacturing and distribution since the 1960s. He
served as president of the Contact Lens Manufacturers Association (CLMA), board member of the Contact Lens Society of America (CLSA) and was a founding member of the Contact Lens Council (CLC), an associate member
of the Contact Lens Association of Ophthalmologists (CLAO) and served on the board of the Pacific Coast Contact Lens Society. Mr. Moore was also president of Primary Eyecare Network (PEN), a practice management
group for independent optometrists.
SynergEyes Appoints VP Clinical Affairs
SynergEyes announced the appointment of Garold Edwards, O.D., F.A.A.O., Vice President of Clinical Affairs. He will be responsible for all of the company’s clinical endeavors, provide
expertise to practitioners who work with the company’s hybrid contact lenses and coordinate as well as lead research and development projects. Dr. Edwards has more than 25 years of experience in healthcare and was
a founder of Specialty UltraVision.
Increased Comfort Delivers Lasting Patient Satisfaction
Nothing drives referrals like satisfied patients. And nothing satisfies patients like the comfort and minimal corneal staining that can be provided by ACUVUE® OASYS™ Brand Contact Lenses with
HYDRACLEAR™ Plus. In a recent clinical study, new wearers exhibited no significant difference in corneal staining and reported no significant difference in overall comfort between ACUVUE® OASYS™ and
no lens. And in an in-market trial, 89% of patients fit with ACUVUE® OASYS™ would recommend their doctors based on their experience. How will you satisfy your patients and build your practice with
ACUVUE® OASYS™?
More About ACUVUE® OASYS®
Important Safety Information
--ADVERTISING
Global Keratoconus Congress 2008
Contact Lens Spectrum and the LWW Health Care Conference Group will host the second Global Keratoconus Congress (GKC), January 25-27, 2008, at
Bally's Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. As with
the 2007 meeting, the
2008 congress will include information for vision care professionals in all disciplines, with both surgical and non-surgical treatment options. GKC 2008 will also feature
15 new speakers providing hands-on workshops, strategies for irregular astigmatism and expert insights into fitting after surgery and corneal trauma. More than 500 participants attended the 2007 meeting, which
was accredited for continuing education under COPE, NCLE and JCAHPO and offered 17.5 credit hours. Those interested in attending the 2008 Global Keratoconus Congress can visit
http://www.GKCongress.com for more information or to register for this unique meeting. Companies interested in exhibiting should contact Heather Seasholtz at 215-643-8073.
--ADVERTISING
Give Sight, Give Hope
Join the World Sight Day Challenge on October 11, 2007. Optometry Giving Sight hopes practitioners will help give sight to the millions in need by: donating exam fees on World Sight Day, signing up for a regular
monthly donation of $25, $50 or $100, and asking patients to add $5 to their invoices in October. Visit
http://www.givingsight.org.
--ADVERTISING
VCA & AARP Launch PSA Campaign
The Vision Council of America (VCA) and AARP have launched their second public service advertisement (PSA) campaign, “Sight Matters. Look into Your Eyes,” aimed at educating Americans
over the age of 40 about vision health. An estimated six million Americans in this age group have an uncorrected visual impairment, according to a release issued by VCA. The PSAs will be distributed to more than
8,000 print and broadcast media outlets in September. This campaign builds on the group’s “Check Yearly. See Clearly.” initiative, which aims to educate all Americans about the importance of regular vision care.
Alcon Expands Swiss Operations
Alcon announced it intends to establish Fribourg, Switzerland as the central location for an expansion of its Swiss-managed global administration operations. The expansion includes the
relocation of finance, information technologies, logistics and other centralized administrative operations from Huenenburg to Fribourg. Alcon will remain resident in Huenenberg, Switzerland from which local Swiss
sales and marketing activities will continue to be managed.
Abstract:
Climate Change and Microbial Keratitis
Researchers at the University of New South Wales’ School of Optometry’s Institute for Eye Research and Vision Cooperative Research Centre in Sydney, Australia recently conducted a study
aimed at evaluating associations between disease severity, causative organism and climatic variation in contact lens-related microbial keratitis. The investigation involved 236 contact lens wearers with presumed
microbial keratitis who presented to private and hospital ophthalmologists in Australia between Oct. 1, 2003 and Sept. 30, 2004. They collected clinical details, management information and microbiology data and then
graded them for severity based on lesion size and location criteria. They assigned causative organisms to environmental or endogenous groups and determined the climate zone, daytime temperature and humidity for the
geographic location of each event.
They found severe contact lens-related microbial keratitis was more likely to occur in warmer, humid regions of the country compared with smaller, increasingly
peripheral corneal lesions that were more common in cooler conditions. Environmental organisms were the predominant cause of culture-proven keratitis, with Pseudomonas aeruginosa being the most frequently
recovered. Environmental organisms were isolated more commonly from tropical regions and accounted for nearly all cases of vision loss that occurred during the study period. Humidity did not have a significant effect
on causative organism.
Investigators conclude that climatic conditions play a role in disease severity and causative organism in contact lens-related microbial keratitis, therefore, they say,
have implications for practitioners involved in contact lens care and contact lens wearers who live in, or travel to, the tropics.
Stapleton F, Keay LJ, Sanfilippo, Katiyar S, Edwards KP, Naduvilath T. Relationship Between Climate, Disease Severity, and Causative Organism for Contact Lens: Associated Microbial Keratitis in Australia. Am J
Ophthalmol. 2007 Aug 27;[epub ahead of print].
Editor's Commentary:
Research and Innovation
We all have great stories of improving patients' lives with contact lenses. Thankfully, most of us have relatively few stories of not being able to help our patients in some way. This
week I had a patient who was referred for a cosmetic lens fitting following numerous ocular surgeries. Unfortunately, I had to deliver the bad news that contact lenses were not an option due to the number of current
topical ocular medications, dramatic corneal and limbal irregularity, scarring and staining. The cornea was simply not healthy enough to tolerate a lens. This patient still expressed hope that one day, someone would
develop a lens or a surgery that may help him visually or cosmetically.
We are in a great profession and a great industry that works to create innovative contact lens materials and designs,
contact lens care products, topical medications and instrumentation to help our patients. This situation made me stop and think about all those who dedicate their lives to research in industry, academia and through
their practices. It is exciting to think about what is to come.
Carla Mack, O.D., F.A.A.O.
Letters to the Editor:
Ocular Sports Injuries
In response to the
September 2 edition of CLToday (see, “Sports-Related Eye Injuries”), there may be one emerging sports injury to also consider. At a Chicago
Medical School (Northwestern University) and two private suburban practice clinics in which I work, there appears to be a significant increase over the last three years in eye injuries related to paintball. Many
of the ER docs mention this as a new and under-recognized problem, which is almost 100% preventable with safety goggles.
Bob Grohe, O.D.
Hinsdale, Ill.
This month at http://www.siliconehydrogels.org explore the significance of the recent “no-rub” solution recalls, learn about
atypical upper lid margin staining in dry-eyed silicone hydrogel wearers and review the latest in silicone hydrogel research present at ARVO 2007.
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
T-shirt (see http://www.CLToday.com for details). Please include your full name, degree or title and city/state/country.
Visit Contact Lens Spectrum ( http://www.clspectrum.com ) for interactive clinical posters and issue archives. Visit Contact Lenses
Today for our Best Fitting Tips.
CLToday Services: Subscribe; Unsubscribe; submit
news to news@cltoday.com; or, fax 1-215-643-3902.
Contact Lenses Today and CLToday are registered trademarks of Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, Inc. ©2007 Lippincott, Williams and
Wilkins, Inc.