News

According to the 2006 U.S. Census more than 112 million Americans are over the age of 45 and will most likely need reading glasses. This provides a unique business opportunity for dispensaries. As a generation who loves quality, style, and design, it makes sense that our new wave of shoppers will want the same attributes from their reading glasses. If we take the time to dress well, selecting just the right necktie, jewelry, or accessory, we are not going to want to pull out a bland pair of reading glasses in a meeting. Our love of brands and fashion will extend to our readers.

Kaenon Polarized has introduced its new Web site, which provides a user-friendly platform, offering interactive educational features, and enhanced e-commerce capabilities.

Eschenbach Optik of America has been named the exclusive North American distributor of Ash Technologies' line of video magnification products.

Essilor Vision Foundation has been named Healthcare Education Hero of the Year by the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) Healthcare Alliance.

Viva International Group and Iconix Brand Group have signed a multi-year licensing agreement for Viva to produce and distribute Iconix Group's Rampage Eyewear brand globally.

Independent eye-care professionals (ECPs) raised retail prices of 20 leading soft contact lens brands a weighted average of 1.3% during 2008, according to recent data from ABB CONCISE's Soft Lens Retail Price Monitor.

Retinal specialists seemed to hold their collective breaths in 2008 in anticipation of the results of a number of ongoing trials of drugs for various retinal pathologies. Medical retina and the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapies were center stage again this year. Some of the highlights include bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech) for retinopathy of prematurity, sustained-release ciliary neurotropic factor for dry age-related macular degeneration, anti-complement drugs, and the results of the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research study.

The number of researchers and physicians working in the area of vision and ophthalmology at Indiana University (IU) is expected to double with the completion of the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute in 2010.

Alcon Inc. has executed a new agreement and broadened an existing agreement with two different companies to expand its products under development.

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.

Some speculate that the current economic crisis is a result of financial institutions' misplaced optimism and trust in their companies. Ophthalmologists, who run practices, departments, divisions, etc., have to strike the right balance between sharing and recognizing the realities of whatever problems organizations face, and express the confidence that they can be overcome if the right things are done.

Five scientists will receive awards from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in 2009. Four of them will deliver lectures at the organization's annual meeting, May 3 to 7 in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Although 2008 was not a year of major advances in glaucoma, it still was a time of progress. Structural imaging devices continue to improve; more data are emerging on surgical alternatives to trabeculectomy; and some novel medical therapies appear interesting, even though they are just in very early stages of clinical investigation. Perspectives on recent developments and current controversies are discussed.

Throughout his address at the opening session of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeting, President David W. Parke II, MD said that Ophthalmologists need to recognize that they have "a unique and critical duty to preserve sight where imperiled and to restore sight where impaired," he said. Dr. Parke also suggested ophthalmologists, as physician professionals, follow these "unassailable and majestic" core values: A commitment to patient safety and quality care first; a personal responsibility for patients' welfare; a pledge to respect the dignity of the individual; to be effective stewards of the profession in the service of the public good.

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.

A 51-year-old Latin woman presented to the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute with a complaint of blurry vision in both eyes over the last 6 months. The visual loss was described as gradual, affecting both distance and near vision. The patient denied other symptoms of pain, redness, photophobia, floaters, or photopsias. The patient also denied any relevant medical history, medication use, or history of trauma. Family history was non-contributory. Ocular history was significant for "poor vision in my right eye since childhood," but no history of strabismus existed. The patient worked as a clerk at a dairy company and had a 15 pack-year smoking history, with occasional alcohol use.

In 2005, about 1 billion individuals worldwide had presbyopia or age-related difficulty seeing objects nearby and an estimated 410 million with the condition were unable to perform tasks requiring near vision, according to a report in the December issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology.

Eye disorders related to statin use were reported in the Jupiter Study led by F.W. Fraunfelder, MD, Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health & Sciences University.

A U.S. advisory panel said that a prescription eye drug used to treat glaucoma is also safe and effective for adults who want longer, thicker eyelashes.

A team of seven leading ophthalmologists has been assembled to evaluate the accommodative properties of a proprietary material (Collamer, STAAR Surgical) used in the company's accommodating IOLs, it was announced in a prepared statement.

Vision Research Center (VRC), an online research site where experts in the ophthalmic community and patients can share their experiences and opinions concerning technology and therapies, has launched, according to a prepared statement.

A winner has been announced for the latest Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organization prize. The blindness charity Helen Keller International (HKI) has won for its role in onchocerciasis (river blindness) control in 10 African countries.

Eschenbach Optik has been named the exclusive North American distributor of the Ash Technologies Ltd. line of video magnification products.

EyeGate Pharma has received the 2008 North American Frost & Sullivan Ocular Drug Delivery Technology Innovation of the Year Award.

Eye disease and sleep disorders are linked in several ways, according to research published recently in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Alcon Inc. has launched an online educational resource for people who have cataracts, and their caregivers.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, will be the site of the World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC) meeting in February 2012.

Open enrollment for Medicare Part D drug plans began Nov. 15 and will continue through Dec. 31.