CONTACT LENSES TODAY
October 1, 2006
Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This week CLToday® reaches more than
12,000 readers in 74 countries.
Vision Care Institute Names New Director
Richard Clompus, O.D., has been appointed director of the Vision Care Institute of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Vision Care Inc. He assumes the
position from Howard Purcell, O.D., who has been named Senior Director of New Program Development for Vistakon. Dr. Clompus joined Vistakon in Feb. 2006 as Director of
Professional Development. He previously served as Vice President of Professional Affairs for the Spectacle Lens Group of J&J Vision Care. Prior to that, he managed his own
primary care practice and has been a clinical faculty member of The Eye Institute at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry.
SynergEyes Gets Fourth Patent
A fourth U.S. patent has been awarded to SynergEyes Inc. for methods of manufacturing its hybrid contact lenses. This patent compliments the
previous patents for the lens itself and the company’s HyperBond technology that provides a junction between the lens’ rigid center and soft skirt. Another patent covers
the method used to provide a rotationally stable platform for front surface toric, de-centered multifocal and wavefront-guided hybrid lenses.
NAO Honors GP Lens Consultant
The National Academy of Opticianry (NAO) has honored James Slightom, A.B.O.M., F.C.L.S.A., with the Joseph Bruneni Memorial Education Award
for his educational accomplishments with ophthalmology residents at the University of Missouri – Kansas City. He received the award at Vision Expo West in Las Vegas on
Sept. 15. Mr. Slightom has served as Lead GP Consultant for ABB Optical since 2004. He previously spent three years consulting with practitioners at Paragon Vision
Sciences and has been involved in contact lens fitting for more than 25 years.
VISTAKON® has begun airing national TV advertising in support of their exciting new contact lens, ACUVUE® ADVANCE™ Brand Contact
Lenses for ASTIGMATISM, and to help increase patient visits.
One advertisement — titled “Twins” — targets a younger audience and is geared towards first time contact lens wearers with astigmatism. The
other — “A Day in the Life” — was created to appeal to a broader, more mature audience, including current toric wearers and dropouts. The commercials are to air on
stations such as FOX, WB, MTV, and USA. Tune in!
--ADVERTISING
Global Keratoconus Congress – OCTOBER 2 DEADLINE FOR PAPERS AND POSTERS
The Educational Program Committee of the Global Keratoconus Congress invites the submission of abstracts for the Free Papers and Scientific
Posters Competition to be held January 26-28, 2007 in Las Vegas. Papers and Posters related to keratoconus, corneal topography, post penetrating keratoplasty or related
irregular corneal surface, gas permeable lens and lens care topics are welcome. Please visit http://www.gkc2007.com for
information.
--ADVERTISING
IACLE Course Complete, Available
The International Association of Contact Lens Educators
(IACLE) announced the completion of the final Module in its 10-volume Contact Lens Course.
The course provides a comprehensive package of materials for delivering contact lens education, with lectures, tutorials and quizzes, as well as outlines and record forms
for clinical, lab and practical sessions.
The course is available as a CD-ROM set at a cost determined by region and heavily subsidized by industry.
It will be provided free of charge to all active IACLE Resource Centers and is available for practitioners and students. The IACLE has also translated the course into five
languages; English, Spanish, Chinese (both simplified and traditional) and Bahasa (Indonesian). Selected units of the course have also been translated into
Korean, Flemish and French. Certain slides are currently being translated into German and Italian as well, with future possibilities of Russian and Portuguese under
investigation.
The IACLE course and other programs are made possible through the sponsorship of industry including CIBA Vision, J&J Vision Care,
Bausch & Lomb, Advanced Medical Optics, CooperVision, Alcon and Menicon Europe.
VSP Launches Web Site for Federal Employees
Vision Service Plan (VSP) has launched a Web site designed for federal government employees and retirees seeking information on their new
eyecare benefits options at http://www.chooseVSP.com. Federal workers and retirees can enroll in comprehensive vision coverage for the first time beginning in Nov. The Web site
features a search engine for users to find the nearest VSP doctor, personalized answers to specific questions about eyecare, access to an eyecare education e-newsletter
and plan coverage details. The site’s Eye on Health Online e-newsletter provides information on eye health topics to help keep their eyes healthy.
Abstract:
Bandage CLs and Serum Eye Drops for PEDs
German researchers recently conducted a study to investigate the use of a bandage contact lens (BCL) in combination with autologous serum eye
drops in the treatment of persistent epithelial defects (PEDs). They treated six eyes of five patients who underwent treatment with autologous serum eye drops and an FDA
group-IV hydrogel contact lens. Patients were suffering from six PEDs due to rheumatoid sterile corneal ulcer (one eye), neurotrophic keratopathy (three) and partial limbal
stem cell deficiency (one). Two had undergone keratoplasty and three had already had amniotic membrane transplantation, but the epithelial defects persisted in each case.
Researchers fit an FDA group-IV hydrogel contact lens (Biomedics 55, ocufilcon D, 55% water content) on each eye and prescribed serum drops to be applied eight times a
day.
The PEDs healed in five of six eyes after a period of 14.2+/-8.9 days. In one eye, the PED became smaller, but took 90 days until the lesion
healed completely. White deposits appeared on the surface of the BCLs of three eyes during the treatment after 12.3+/-5.1 days. Because there were no signs of inflammation
and defects improved, researchers fit a new, identical lens and continued with medication unaltered. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a coating of amorphous material
with a wrinkled appearance and many corpuscular deposits with no indication of bacterial colonization.
Investigators concluded that the combination of
a therapeutic contact lens and serum eye drops can successfully be used in the treatment of persistent epithelial defects. They noted deposition of albumin may occur on the
surface of the contact lenses, which caused no unwanted effects in the small group presented here.
Schrader S, Wedel T, Moll R, Geerling G. Combination of serum eye
drops with hydrogel bandage contact lenses in the treatment of persistent epithelial defects. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2006 Oct;244(10):1345-9. Epub 2006 Mar
17.
Editor's Commentary:
"Be Careful What You Ask For"
Rep. Clifford Stearns (R-Fla.) spoke these words during the hearing on contact lenses before
the House Energy and Commerce committee on Sept. 15,
on which we reported last week (See CLToday, October 24). Wiley Curtis, O.D., testified on behalf of the American Optometric Association (AOA) and said the group has
received hundreds of FCLCA violation complaints about sellers including reports of his own problems with an Internet seller.
During the proceedings,
Dr. Curtis and Mr. Coon disagreed on the authenticity of Dr. Curtis' office’s problems with Rx verifications. Mr. Coon said 1-800 CONTACTS has a record of 192 phone calls
attempting to verify prescriptions with the doctor’s office. And, Dr. Curtis was unable to provide the name of the Internet retailer that had sold the lens to one of his
patients who developed an infection.
Rep. Stearns referenced an earlier statement by Rep. Charles Gonzales (D-Texas), “If you ask Congress to fix the
problem, you’re going to be surprised because your fate and your destiny will be in other people’s hands…”
Mr. Coon said perhaps doctors should
not be allowed to sell the lenses they prescribe. Is that what Congress is being asked to legislate or is it simply an unintended consequence of two
proposals?
Fitting Tip:
Fitting Hybrid Lenses
When fitting the new SynergEyes hybrid contact lenses, use low molecular weight fluorescein for evaluation. Use the liquid fluoresoft rather
than the strip form for much more vivid pattern analysis. When fitting several lenses or several patients on the same day, store the vial in the blue Restasis container and
discard at the end of the day. This allows for neat single vial use for the day.
Terry Scheid, O.D., F.A.A.O.
Merrick, N.Y.
Best of the Month
Dr. Christopher Paulus, submitted the “Best Fitting Tip of the Month” for September. His tip, “Tip for Hyperopic Patients,” may be seen in
the, September 10, 2006 edition of CLToday.
This month at http://www.siliconehydrogels.org, get an update of silicone hydrogels at ARVO 2006 and review ‘oxygen flux‚’
as well as the cornea’s response to different levels of oxygen transmissibility.
Report adverse contact lens reactions here: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/ or call
(800) FDA-1088.
Access a reporting form for complications you've seen that were a result of contact lenses dispensed without a valid prescription
at the Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry's (ARBO's) Web
site: http://www.arbo.org/arbo.asp?dt=R&doc=Complications. Complete and send the form online or print it
out and fax it to (866) 886-6164.
Send your favorite tips to tips@cltoday.com -- if your tip is selected
as 'Best of the Month,' you'll receive a free golf 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.
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