CONTACT LENSES TODAY

December 15, 2002

Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This week CLToday ® reaches 9,164 readers in 74 countries.

Eyefinity Welcomes All Private Eyecare Practitioners
Eyefinity announced that it will now make its online services available to all private practice eyecare practitioners. Practitioners outside of the VSP network can now register for access to these services, which include online claims filing, customized practice Web sites and access to BCI's VisionCare CE online program, at www.eyefinity.com.

Teens Becoming a Growing Base of CL Wearers
In the first of a monthly series of Vistakon news alerts called "Eye on Eyecare," the company reveals the results of an ongoing tracking study from the Contact Lens Report. Nearly four out of every 10 new contact lens wearers are teenagers. According to the newsletter, with one-half of vision-corrected teens currently wearing contact lenses and nearly one-quarter considering them, the teen market is a key growth area. Vistakon says that from a marketing standpoint, the key to attracting teens is to deliver products that are fun and functional.

The Beauty and Technology in Biomedics Colors -- The clinically proven Biomedics 55 design is now available in four popular colors -- blue, green, gray and hazel. Biomedics Colors offer your patients the most natural eye color without sacrificing comfort, vision or fit. Biomedics Colors are only sold to eyecare professionals. Call your Ocular Sciences account manager to get started today (877) 926-2800. For more information, visit http://www.ocularsciences.com/Sight/static/main.jsp
--ADVERTISING

J&J Recognized for Performance in Volatile Economy
Johnson & Johnson recently won first place in the Americas Region in the Global Corporate Achievement Awards 2002 from the Economist Intelligence Unit, the business information arm of the company that publishes The Economist magazine. Companies were judged on a series of criteria including effective corporate leadership, a flexible and adaptive organizational structure and sustained profitability through the cycles of both the new-economy boom and the post-dotcom bust. Johnson & Johnson was selected from among 10 finalists including Southwest Airlines, Federal Express, Harley-Davidson, Starbucks and MBNA.

Amethyst Added to DuraSoft ColorBlends
CIBA Vision's Specialty Lens Business has added amethyst to the lineup of ColorBlends styles for DuraSoft 3 annual replacement lenses. All seven DuraSoft ColorBlends colors are available in an 8.6-mm base curve and 14.5-mm diameter with powers ranging from +6.00D to +8.00D in 0.25D steps.

Abstract: 30-Day Continuous Wear: Silicone Hydrogel vs. GP
Fifty neophyte patients were randomized to Focus Night & Day or to Menicon Z lenses and 25 existing low Dk soft daily wear and 25 daily wear GP patients were fitted with Focus Night & Day and Menicon Z lenses, respectively, for 30-day continuous wear.

Although more neophyte patients discontinued (36% in the GP group) and some complications are reported with each lens type, the authors believe that either lens type can provide successful 30-day continuous wear.
-- Morgan, P., et al. The Comparative Clinical Performance of Silicone Hydrogel and Rigid Gas Permeable Lenses for 30 Days Continuous Wear, Optometry and Vis Sci.; 79(12s):9 (2002)

Editor's Commentary: Keep Good Records
I am at the American Academy of Optometry meeting in San Diego and our abstract in this issue comes from this meeting. Last week, I got a good suggestion from a pioneer in our field. Nick Stoyan asked me to pass this along. He is so right and this is a cardinal rule of treating complicated contact lens cases including corneal reshaping treatment. Keep good records of the lens design, modifications and reorders. If you don't know what you were using and can't measure it, then you better have good records or you'll cause your patient, your laboratory and yourself a lot of grief.

Fitting Tip: An Overrefracting Gem You Already Have
When performing spherical overrefractions, I've found it easiest to use a piece of equipment most of us already have in our offices -- +/- lens flippers. I have +/- .50 and +/- .25 flippers readily available in all exam rooms and they're a great time saver -- no more hasseling with the phoropter in the majority of cases.
-- R. Scott Wooley, OD, Flora, IL

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