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.

Just before adjourning this year, the 109th Congress voted against H.R. 5762, the Contact Lens Consumer Protection Act, a bill proposed by Senator Robert Bennett (R) of Utah, home state of 1-800 CONTACTS. H.R. 5762 would have amended the FCLCA and required manufacturers to make any contact lens they produce, market, distribute or sell available to specified alternative channels of distribution. Optometrists nationwide communicated their objections to this legislation.
    Following the introduction of H.R. 5762, Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) and Tom Allen (D-Maine) introduced the AOA-backed Contact Lens Consumer Health Protection Act, H.R. 6117. This bill seeks to strengthen patient safety protections under the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (FCLCA) by preventing Internet retailers from using automated telephone calls to verify contact lens prescriptions, allow O.D.s to respond to verification requests by their choice of fax, e-mail or phone call from a live operator and ensure that each Internet seller maintains a toll-free, patient safety phone and fax hotline.

---

CIBA Introduces O₂Optix Custom
At this year’s American Academy of Optometry meeting, CIBA Vision introduced its new O₂Optix Custom lenses. The lenses have a Dk of 117 and are made in sifilcon A material. They are available for high myopia, high hyperopia, large and small corneas, steep and flat corneas and aphakia. The new lenses are manufactured with the company’s plasma surface treatment and InnoLathe technology. They are approved for daily wear and recommended for quarterly replacement. O₂Optix Custom lenses will be available in North America in mid-January 2007 in sphere powers from 20.00D to -20.00D in 0.25D steps, in a 13.2 mm diameter with base curves of 7.4, 7.7, 8.0 or 8.3; a 14.0 mm diameter with base curves of 7.8, 8.1, 8.4, 8.7 or 9.0; or a 14.8 mm diameter with base curves of 8.0, 8.3, 8.6, 8.9 or 9.2. They have a 32% water content and a light green handling tint.

---

Vision Disorders Cost U.S. Economy Billions
A report in this month’s Archives of Ophthalmology estimates the societal economic burden and the governmental budgetary impact of the following visual disorders among U.S. adults over the age of 40: visual impairment, blindness, refractive error, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataracts, diabetic retinopathy and primary open-angle glaucoma. Researchers estimated three components of economic burden: direct medical costs, other direct costs and productivity losses. They used private insurance and Medicare claims data to estimate direct medical costs; epidemiologic evidence from published literature to estimate other direct costs, such as nursing home costs; and data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation to estimate productivity losses. They used budgetary documents and direct medical and other direct costs to estimate the approximate impact on the government’s budget.
    They estimate that the annual total financial burden of major adult visual disorders is $35.4 billion and the annual governmental budgetary impact is $13.7 billion. They estimated direct medical costs of about $6.8 billion for cataracts, $5.5 billion for refractive error, $2.9 billion for glaucoma, $575 million for AMD and $493 million for diabetic retinopathy. The majority of direct medical costs included outpatient services and medications, while inpatient costs accounted for almost no costs.

---

Administration Appeals Ruling on Blind-Friendly Bills
Justice Department lawyers filed an appeal that seeks to overturn a ruling last month ordering the Treasury to come up with ways for the blind to recognize the different denominations of U.S. paper currency. The ruling, issued by Judge James Robertson, was the result of a suit brought by the American Council of the Blind. Judge Robertson said the current practice violates the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in government programs. In his ruling, he noted that that of 180 countries issuing paper currency, only the U.S. prints bills that are identical in size and color in all their denominations. Justice department lawyers argued that visually impaired people are not denied “meaningful access” to money by the way the nation’s currency is designed. They noted the existence of portable reading devices, which many say are slow and expensive, and suggested blind people use credit cards as an alternative to currency.

---

Feeling Less Is Worth More
The senofilcon A material of ACUVUE® OASYS™ Brand Contact Lenses with HYDRACLEAR™ Plus balances properties to meet the demands of contact lens wearers in environments where eyes feel tired and dry. Its exceptional wettability is similar to that of traditional mid-water hydrogels. ACUVUE® OASYS™ Brand Contact Lenses are the smoothest silicone hydrogel lenses, with approximately 5 times less friction than PureVision™, and approximately 15 times less friction than Night & Day™. With an average of 11,000 blinks per day, patients will benefit from a smooth lens, and your practice will benefit by offering a lens that increases patient satisfaction.
Night & Day™ is a registered trademark of CIBA Vision. PureVision™ is a registered trademark of Bausch & Lomb.
--ADVERTISING

---

Global Keratoconus Congress 2007 – Room Block Deadline
The deadline for making room reservations at the group rate for the first-ever Global Keratoconus Congress is rapidly approaching. Make reservations by December 22nd in order to secure the group rate of $135 plus tax per night.
    The Global Keratoconus Congress will be held January 26-28, 2007 at Bally’s in Las Vegas. Please visit http://www.gkc2007.com. There you will find the most up-to-date educational program agenda and information on hotel accommodations, as well as the ability to register for the event and information for making your hotel reservations.
--ADVERTISING

---

VSP to Expand Vision LoansSM Program
VSP recently announced plans to expand its Vision LoanSM program to include the Associate Salary program, which will provide VSP network eye doctors with loans for use toward the salaries of new optometric associates. The company has also launched a Web site, http://eyeseek.vsp.com, a free resource for VSP network doctors who are seeking associates, partners or potential buyers for the practice and enables students, recent graduates and other eye doctors to locate opportunities with VSP private practices.

---

Survey Says!
We now have the results of our first survey on spherical lens prescribing we announced a few weeks ago in collaboration with Jeff Johnson, O.D., M.B.A., of Robert W Baird & Co. Results indicates that about 82% of respondents select silicone hydrogel lenses as their modality of choice for new contact lens patients. And, 10% select hydrogel disposable lenses, while about 6% select daily disposable lenses. You can see the complete survey results at http://www.surveymonkey.com/Report.asp?U=277212062435 and respond to our toric lens survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=147381351152.

---

Abstract: Optical Aberrations in CL Wearers
A group of researchers in Madrid, Spain recently compared the optical aberrations of myopic eyes with and without the use of contact lenses in an attempt to evaluate the impact of disposable soft contact lenses upon visual performance. They used a laser ray tracing system to measure aberrations in 18 eyes, which enabled them to compare the findings of the naked eye, the eye plus a test lens and the eye plus a disposable contact lens.
    There was a large variability among subjects, but the general tendency was that test lenses did not modify aberrations, whereas contact lenses tended to increase the ocular aberrations for large pupils by an average of 40% with a lower increase for smaller pupils. They conclude that there will be no significant adverse effects on the quality of vision from the use of disposable contact lenses worn under daylight conditions, but a small decline in night vision.
Blazquez-Sanchez V, Mendoza-Perez MA, Merayo-Lloves JM, Navarro-Belsue R. [Laser ray tracing to measure optical aberrations in eyes with contact lenses] [Article in Spanish]. Arch Soc Esp Oftalmol. 2006 Oct;81(10):575-80.

---

Editor's Commentary: Silicone Hydrogels
At last week's American Academy of Optometry meeting I heard more and more good things about silicone hydrogel lenses and little about problems with them. Oh yes, there are some cases of GPC, you must keep them clean, they don't work for everyone and you can still get infiltrates and infections but the overwhelming evidence is good. Hydrogel lenses will be with us for a long time, but it won't be long until these new materials are the predominant choice. There are also new daily disposable hydrogel lenses that need to be used more often. It behooves us to use whatever modality is in our patient's best interest.

---

Fitting Tip: Send Us Your Tips
CLToday is currently seeking Fitting Tip submissions. If your tip is chosen as best of the month, you will receive a CLToday t-shirt. Please send your fitting tips to tips@cltoday.com.

---

This month at http://www.siliconehydrogels.org, read part two of our BCLA summary, review the effects of silicone hydrogel lenses on corneal exhaustion syndrome, and daily wear, and explore the impact of lubricating drops on lens wearability.

---

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.

---

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. ©2006 Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, Inc.
This has been a BCI e-mail communication. If you prefer not to receive e-mail from us, please use the following link
to remove your e-mail address from our list: Removal Request | View our Privacy Policy

You are receiving this e-mail because you have agreed to receive e-mail communications from Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, Inc.
Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, Inc. - 1300 Virginia Drive Suite 400 Fort Washington PA 19034 | 215-643-8000
Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, Inc. e-mail program complies with the Federal Can-Spam Act of 2003

Please take a moment to make sure your newsletters don't get marked as spam.
Add cltoday@bci-media.com to your 'approved senders' list or address book.