It's not "new," having been discovered more than five years ago. It has nothing to do with eyewear or contact lenses. It has everything to do with what you see: invisibility fabric. Here's a report from Reuters.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 7:07 AM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, 1 September 2010 8:58 AM EDT
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The Associated Press reports: "The risk of long-term health consequences is very unlikely," Gary Esterow, spokesman for Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc....The company estimates about 100,000 boxes were affected, with the boxes containing either 30 or 90 lenses each. "In most instances, people put (a lens) in one eye, realized it was uncomfortable and took it out," so only one eye was affected, Esterow said.

The recall began in Japan when Johnson & Johnson notified the Japanese government on Aug. 18. The company did not announce the recall in the U.S.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 6:19 AM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, 1 September 2010 8:59 AM EDT
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Two weeks or so after receiving AOA's Seal of Acceptance for its UV absorbing contact lenses, Johnson & Johnson finds itself expanding its voluntary recall in south Asia of selected lots of 1•Day Acuvue TruEye Brand Contact Lenses (narafilcon A) . The recall started in Japan and has spread to Malaysia, Macau, Hong Kong, and Singapore. (The recall does not include contact lenses sold in mainland China.)

How significant is the Asian market? In the first half of 2010, customers only from Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Malaysia purchased more than 187 contact lenses.

The recalled lots were produced in Ireland. VisionMonday.com reports that the company also is recalling some lots in Europe.

The recalls came after J&J performed its own investigation of customer complaints about the lenses irritating their eyes.

The recall does not affect 1•Day Acuvue contact lenses sold in the United States. The U.S. lenses are manufactured in a different facility.

For the past year, Johnson & Johnson has dealt with a variety of quality control issues in a variety of its health care lines. At the same time the company has maintained its excellent reputation by being pro-active when it comes to quality issues.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 7:16 AM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, 1 September 2010 8:59 AM EDT
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Five of the seven courses at the Fall 2010 OpticalCEU Conference for continuing education will be new. "We are constantly trying to revitalize the courses so attendees have the latest information possible," said Linda Conlin, founder of OpticalCEUs and F.E. Enterprises.

The Fall courses include Cosmetics of Contacts, ANSI Standards for Contact Lenses, History of Eyeglasses, What's Up with Myopia, Make Sunwear Important with the New to the World Sun Lens, The Boomer Business, and Fit Me!

Opticians and other optical personnel will be able to register for the conference online, by mail, or by phone around Labor Day.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 6:18 AM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, 1 September 2010 9:01 AM EDT
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"Ultraviolet, or UV, rays can cause significant damage to unprotected eyes, resulting in a number of illnesses and disorders that can rob people of their sight. 'People are more aware of skin cancer. There's more awareness of exposing your skin to the sun,' said Dr. J. Alberto Martinez, a practicing ophthalmologist in Bethesda, Md., and a clinical professor of ophthalmology at Georgetown University Medical School. 'But at the same time, the eyes suffer dramatically from ultraviolet exposure. UV exposure is a public health problem, and, as an ophthalmologist, I see the continuous, serious problems that are caused by UV.'"

That's just the beginning of an excellent article about the importance of the use of sunglasses appearing in U.S. News & Worth Report. 

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 6:25 AM EDT
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"Losing your eyesight would be a traumatic and frightening experience for anyone," wrote the BBC. "For an artist who makes a living in the visual arts the experience must be significantly more disturbing. That was the future facing Maurice Harron, one of Northern Ireland's best known artists." Until....

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 7:31 AM EDT
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The public is invited to a free web interview with Dr. Susan Barry, neuroscientist, professor and author of Fixing My Gaze.  Dr. Barry, recently interviewed by Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air program, is famous for gaining 3D vision as an adult and sharing her experiences in her book, which was just released in paperback. 

In honor of August being National Children's Vision and Learning month, the College of Optometrists in Vision Development is sponsoring this FREE 30 minute interview with Dr. Barry on line, "School Crossings: A Neurobiologist's View of How Our System Fails Children With Vision Problems."  This meeting is open to parents and educators across the U.S. as well as the media.  It will be held on Thursday, August 26, 2010 at 9 pm, EDT.

Seating is limited to the first 1,000 people to respond.  To register for this free event, go to:  www.joinawebinar.com and enter the webinar ID number, which is 547-423-251, your email address, etc.  Just follow the instructions from there.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 7:19 AM EDT
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