Lois A. Bowers, MA

Pfizer will acquire Wyeth in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at $50.19 per share, or a total of about $68 billion, as of the Jan. 26 announcement of the planned merger. The companies expect the transaction to close toward the end of this year.

Jonathan Etter, MD, of the Duke Eye Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, won first place honors in the sixth annual Ophthalmology Times Resident Writer's Award program.

Ophthalmologists are "powerfully positioned" to lead the effort to improve benefits and outcomes while diminishing costs associated with the health care system, said Institute of Medicine President Harvey V. Fineberg, MD, PhD, in his keynote address at the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting.

David F. Williams, MD, MBA, has been named president of the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS).

Neil M. Bressler, MD, Susan B. Bressler, MD, Alexander J. "Sandy" Brucker, MD, and Stanley Chang, MD, were honored for their work in the subspecialty of retina Oct. 12 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS).

Selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) is comparable with argon laser trabeculoplasty (ALT) in its ability to lower IOP in patients with open-angle glaucoma, according to 5-year results of a randomized, controlled trial from the University of Ottawa reported at the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting.

The winners of the fifth annual Ophthalmology Times Resident Writer's Award program were announced during the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology launched two major education-related initiatives in 2007.

American Academy of Ophthalmology staff and members have had several recent successes advocating for the profession at the federal and state levels.

Philadelphia-William S. Tasman, MD, is preparing to step down from his positions as ophthalmologist-in-chief at the Wills Eye Institute and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University here.

Las Vegas-Existing sterilization techniques, particularly those used in higher-volume, rapid-turnover operating rooms, may need to be modified to avoid and control future outbreaks of toxic anterior segment syndrome (TASS), Simon P. Holland, MD, FRCSC, said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology here.

Las Vegas-Ophthalmologists can use one of several modified strategies to perform cataract surgery in patients who are taking or have taken tamsulosin (Flomax, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals), with good outcomes and low complication rates, when they know of the medication history in advance, David F. Chang, MD, told those attending the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology here.

Las Vegas-Herpes simplex virus (HSV) keratitis is the leading infectious cause of corneal blindness in the developed world, said Deborah Pavan-Langston, MD, FACS, at the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting. HSV infection also is one of the most complicated illnesses, because it encompasses mechanical and immune as well as infectious components, continued Dr. Pavan-Langston, associate professor of ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston.

Ann Arbor, MI-An aging population plus the need for more space for clinical care, surgery, and research have led the University of Michigan's (U-M) W.K. Kellogg Eye Center to launch a $121 million expansion that will almost double the size of its existing facility. Kellogg officials expect to open a 222,000-square-foot building adjoining the current structure by 2010 and say the enlarged center could serve as a model for other eye centers confronting similar issues.

Philadelphia-Changes in the way ophthalmology is practiced have led Wills Eye Hospital to transfer its inpatient and ophthalmology residency programs to Thomas Jefferson University and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.