Are Seniors Wearing the Wrong Glasses?
Topic: Eye Care
"A Specsavers survey has found 94 per cent of older customers at its Tauranga stores were wearing the wrong prescription of glasses. But other optometrists spoken to by the Bay of Plenty Times do not believe the finding represents what is actually happening across the Bay," which is located in New Zealand. What do you think? Is it true for your  patients?

Dry-Eye Study Using RGN-259 Released
Topic: Eye Care
RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. "announced the results of its first non-clinical dry eye study using RGN-259, RegeneRx's ophthalmic, preservative-free eye drop for the treatment of Dry Eye Syndrome (DES). In the study, animals were treated with RGN-259, a vehicle control and a positive control, doxycycline. Corneal fluorescein staining was used to measure the surface defects after induction of DES using an industry accepted dry eye model. In animals treated with RGN-259, a "dramatic" and statistically significant reduction in corneal staining (p<0.03) was observed compared to those treated with the vehicle control and equivalent to original levels seen prior to induction of DES. The treatment effect using RGN-259 was also more pronounced than that observed with the positive control, an accepted treatment for dry eye and ocular surface inflammation,"according to a MarketWatchReport.

Pissed Off Optician Accused of Stealing from Target
Topic: Optical
St. Peterburg Times posted the following: "An optician at Target who was angry about not getting a raise decided to get even by stealing items from the store, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office."

Johnson & Johnson Expands CL Recall in UK
Topic: Contact Lenses
According to WebNewsWire, Johnson & Johnson has expanded its voluntary recall of its One Day Acuvue TruEye CLs in Britain. The h British Department of Health said that "the affected batch was manufactured in Ireland with lot numbers falling between 492237 and 492498 and between 502080 and 502269, which include the 16 batches of product announced on August 19.These numbers are the first six digits of the lot number printed at the side of the product box. According to Johnson & Johnson, detailed investigation into the incident in August revealed that the lens rinsing process on two production lines did not meet the internal production standards of the company, leading to a residual trace amount of diluent in the lenses."

Excellent Course Evaluations for OpticalCEU's Fall 2010 Seminars
Topic: Continuing Education

At the end of each seminar, ABO/NCLE asks attendees to evaluate it based on four questions: Was this course a worthwhile investment of time and energy, was the instructor organized and knowledgeable, will your job performance improve as a result of this course, and were the printed outcomes of the course me? There's one additional question: Should the course continue to be approved for CE? Again the seminars for OpticalCEUs received excellent evaluations. See for yourselves.

CR Readers Rate Costco Best Nationwide Chain for Eyewear
Topic: Optical

A pubicity release from Consumer Reports notes: "Consumer Reports surveyed more than 30,000 bespectacled readers about their most recent purchase of a pair of eyeglasses and found that Costco topped the Ratings of eyeglass retailers, which included large chains, independent local optical shops, and private doctors offices....Costco Optical earned the highest score for overall satisfaction among chains, and also beat out most of its competitors for price -- a pair of glasses cost a median of $157 compared with a median of $211 at independent optical shops and $212 at eye doctors' offices."

Several points are not mentioned in the press release. Average price makes little sense; price will depend on what type of frame and lenses the individual selects. Another point: With more than 400 locations, making its optical department the fourth largest in the U.S., one can logically assume that more of CR's readers went to Costco than to any 100 independent practices, skewing the results. 

UK Opticians under Media Microscope--about Pricing
Topic: Optical
OptometryToday has posted a notice that "optics is preparing for a fresh media exploration of its High Street pricing which is planned to be screened later this year on national television. Rip Off Britain, the BBC One consumer investigation programme, is producing an report on how opticians price their products alongside online pricing." The series begins in the UK on 22 Nov. 2010. Maybe the BBC will run it in the States. It's always good to see how the other guy lives.

Optometrists and Ophthalmologists Fight over Who Should Have the Largest...
Topic: Eye Care
...scope of practice, according to a good article posted on GreenvilleOnline. The website reports that "optometrists in South Carolina have pushed two bills to expand their scope of practice to include some procedures that ophthalmologists do. Both bills failed to advance. And while optometrists say they haven't decided whether to pursue legislation again in the coming session, ophthalmologists are poised to fight if they do. It has South Carolina consumers in the crossfire."

The analysis goes on: "It's a scenario that's played out in other states around the country with varying degrees of success. Optometrists say they should be able to perform certain surgical procedures, administer injections and prescribe some drugs." Ophthalmologists say no.

Vision Care for the Homebound
Topic: Eye Care
We tend to overlook the vision and dental needs of individuals homebound. We, as do they, become preoccupied with their major health concerns and forget others. Northern Ireland's Department of Health has fixed that, according to a post on OptometryToday. "Care home staff now have access to a set of ‘standards’, many of which will already be in place, to help ensure that those in their care have access to the best quality of eye care available. The guidelines include best practice for optometric care and treatment ensuring accessible, flexible and responsive services which are safe and effective."

Vision Hope for Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes
Topic: Eye Care
"The results of the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) Eye Study, supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), show promising results in slowing the advancement of diabetic retinopathy and its effect on vision," noted HealthNewsDigest. "The study examined adults who had Type 2 diabetes for an average of 10 years and were evaluated after different types of treatments of control of blood sugar, lipids and blood pressure. Intensive blood sugar control, compared with standard blood sugar control, decreased the progression of diabetic retinopathy by about one-third, from 10.4 percent to 7.3 percent, over four years."

Novartis Wins CL Patent Dispute with J&J
Topic: Contact Lenses
Bloomberg News reported that "Novartis AG won an appeals court bid in Paris to uphold the French portion of its European patent for extended-wear lenses, defeating claims by Johnson & Johnson to overturn the intellectual-property protection."

Vitamin A for AMD
Topic: Eye Care
OptometryToday reports that "a vitamin A-related drug could slow the progression of dry AMD and prevent the onset of wet AMD...an American study has found that fenretinide slowed lesion growth and preserved visual acuity in patients suffering from the most advanced form of dry AMD, geographic atrophy (GA). Patients who received the drug experienced a 49% slower rate of lesion growth compared to patients taking a placebo."

A Connection between Bio-inspiration and CLs?
Topic: Contact Lenses
"Bio-inspiration, the study of nature to inspire innovation, has lead to remarkable discoveries that have impacted everything from fabrics and cosmetics to building design, solar cells and x-ray technology. Even contact lenses could be said to be bio-inspired." That's the teaser for post on MiVision.

New Presbyopia Fix At AAO Convention
Topic: Eye Care

The Kamra inlay, a  treatment option for presbyopia, was featured in multiple lectures at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), according to a press release from its developer, AccuFocus Inc.

As part of the Correction of Presbyopia Around the World lecture, Dr. Gunther Grabner, professor of ophthalmology at the Paracelsus University of Salzburg, presented three years of data showing that 97 percent of patients with the inlay achieved J3 or better with a mean uncorrected near vision acuity (UNVA) of J1. Moreover, 91 percent of patients achieved intermediate uncorrected visual acuity (UIVA) of 20/32. This means people with the inlay can read the computer screen, see road signs and read the newspaper without glasses or contact lenses.

New Study Says CLs Good for Children
Topic: Contact Lenses
"The growing body of research in children’s vision correction continues to demonstrate that contact lenses provide significant benefits to children beyond simply correcting their vision," notes an article posted on TheCitizen."'This three year, multi-site study showed considerable improvement for contact lens wearing children 10 years or older in areas of appearance, participation in activities, and satisfaction with vision correction, and it remained or improved over three years,' said Jeffrey J. Walline, O.D, Ph.D., of The Ohio State University College of Optometry and leader of the Adolescent and Child Health Initiative to Encourage Vision Empowerment (ACHIEVE) Study, the largest randomized trial of its kind."

Vision Fatigue on Rise
Topic: Eye Care

A California doctor told the Orange County Register that "according to recent research with VSP eye doctors, 33 percent reported that nearly one-third or more of their patients suffer from digital device related vision problems. The most common include eye strain (82 percent), dry or irritated eyes (74 percent), fatigue (70 percent) and headaches (61 percent)."

A British company is marketing a device called Blink Now, which reportedly encourages blinking when looking at a screen, thereby reducing the fatigue.Solution?

Hard Times in This Economy?
Topic: Optical
Melissa Preddy of BusinessJournalism.org reported recently that "hard numbers are difficult to come by, but reports on professional organization sites suggest that – as more Americans lose insurance and as income dwindle, oral hygiene and visits to the eye doctor tend to suffer.  (See my recent blog post on poverty, which includes a link to the recent Census Bureau report about Americans, poverty and medical insurance for background data.)"

Poppers Can Cause Vision Loss
Topic: Eye Care
Not that you're doing poppers but some clients might. "'Poppers,' the street name for inhaled alkyl nitrite, may produce more than just a 'rush.' They can also cause vision loss, according to researchers in Paris, who report on four such cases in this week's New England Journal of Medicine," according to a post on WebMD.

What Do You See?
Topic: For Laughs

Cheaper CLs
Topic: Contact Lenses
That's the talk of ContactLenses.co.uk. "Contact lenses are becoming less expensive to buy thanks to technological breakthroughs in the field and the cheaper option of buying them online, it has been claimed. According to the Creative Identity Group, the convenience of contact lenses used to be deemed as a trade-off for the high cost of the products, but this is no longer the case, as they are now very affordable."