Who cares? Great Britiain's DailyMirror apparently has little better to do than follow David Beckham, wondering why he was honing and then removing his eyewear.

Here's one from VisionMonday: "The President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies appeared in newspapers and on national TV wearing Pramaor eyewear."

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 7:46 AM EDT
Updated: Sunday, 12 September 2010 8:03 AM EDT
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Opticians have become accustomed to an end-of-the-year sales rush--not sparked by the holidays. Customers want to spend the remainder of the flex spending (FSA--flexibile spending accounts). With the passage of the recent health care bill, FSA's will change.

OTC meds and devices will require a doctor's note if the patient wants to apply his/her FSA. There are exceptions, such as contact lens supplies and reading glasses.

By  2013, the law limits FSA allocations to $2500 annually tax-free,  down from the current $5000 tax-free. Apparently individuals in the past would use their left over flex spending to go on buying sprees. Click here for more.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 8:05 AM EDT
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Under considerable pressure from the Federal Trade Commission, Novartis is readying to sell Miochol-E to competitor Bausch & Lomb. Novartis had to csell the drug before the FTC would approve its aquisition of Alcon. Why?  Both companies made the only injectable miotics, which physicians use in cataract surgery.That's the report from Business Week.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 7:41 AM EDT
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This report is from the PRWeb site: "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proving its newly formed concern regarding the safety and validity of claimed 'impact-resistant lenses' in eyeglasses and sunglasses by initiating a new FDA Import Alert, last updated on August 26, 2010. Import Alert 86-07 'Detention Without Physical Examination of and Guidance for 'Impact-Resistant Lenses in Eyeglasses and Sunglasses' (IA 86-07) includes a Red List of five firms which have been added only since July 15, 2010. Three of these five firms were added on August 26, 2010. ... Sunglasses (with or without UV protection) and eyeglasses (prescription and nonprescription) are regulated by FDA as medical devices."

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 8:56 AM EDT
Updated: Friday, 3 September 2010 3:51 PM EDT
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Vision Monday reports that "in January 2011, the Lacoste eyewear licence will be taken over by Marchon Eyewear, Inc."

EyeSmart noted "Marchon Eyewear, Inc., will design, produce and sell the LACOSTE sunwear and optical collections under the control of LACOSTE S.A.. The new collections will debut in retail in January 2011 and will be presented at the LACOSTE Spring-Summer 2011 Fashion Show in September 2010."

In addtion "Altair, a division of Marchon Eyewear, has been appointed to design a line of Bebe-branded sunglasses and other eyewear for launch next month," according to LicenseMagazine.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 2:49 PM EDT
Updated: Thursday, 2 September 2010 2:55 PM EDT
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ConsumerReportsHealth.com came out with a story including this idea: " the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) is reporting a possible update to the package design that would require the attachment of the contact lens holder to the bottle in order to use the solution. We've [Consumer Reports] previously made the argument that look-alike containers can lead to mistakes. Seeing all multipurpose cleaning and disinfecting solutions used for rinsing and soaking lenses in look-alike containers and stored side-by-side on store shelves, contact lens wearers might assume that the Clear Care product can be used in the same way as others."

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 6:46 AM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, 1 September 2010 6:47 AM EDT
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