Personal Finance

It may not be any consolation to you, but many investors have become concerned about, or are now discouraged with, the performance of their investments. Standing by and watching years of savings and past gains slip away over a 2-year period has many people wondering what to do next. According to the September issue of the AARP Bulletin, more than $7 trillion has evaporated since this bear market started. Of this, about $700 billion disappeared in value within retirement savings. To give you another perspective, a dollar invested in the broad-based S&P 500 in March 2000 is now worth about 55 cents.

Monrovia, CA-STAAR Surgical has reached a settlement with former Chief Executive Officer John R. Wolf that resolves two pending court cases.

Nowadays, it is possible to lease almost anything. Leasing can be an excellent means to obtain use of an asset. It is important to understand the real benefits of leasing and to know how to determine under which circumstances leasing is the better choice.

Baltimore-Race, that ever-sensitive subject in American culture, was the focus of a day-long meeting, "Ethnicity & Glaucoma: The Past, Present, and Future," at Johns Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Irvine, CA-ISTA Pharmaceuticals Inc. has secured $44 million in financing, including a $4 million bridge loan, to complete development work on late-stage ophthalmic products in the company's clinical pipeline.

Yes, we know. You are not going to be closing your practice soon; maybe never. But for most physicians, the prospect is a possibility at some time. If it is remotely likely you will do it once in your lifetime, you should read this article.

The desire to save money on legal fees is an autonomic response for lots of physicians. "Let's just keep things simple. We don't need a fancy contract-we trust each other, right?"

Washington, DC-VitalSeek, a health-related search engine (www.vitalseek.com), allows consumers to search the Web for health information that they can trust.

A recent consulting engagement got us thinking about the appropriate level of candor with employees. Our client was in the initial stages of planning the sale of his practice, and he didn't want his staff to know. Fair enough.

Duluth, GA-CIBA Vision has signed an agreement with Optonol Ltd. for the exclusive rights to market a miniature glaucoma shunt in the United States and Canada.

Alameda, CA-InSite Vision Inc. and Bausch & Lomb have signed a licensing agree-ment to develop InSite's product ISV-403 for the treatment of ocular bacterial infections.

Winter Park, FL-LaserSight will list its common stock on the NASDAQ SmallCap Market after it was declared ineligible to trade on the National Market.

Most people do not have to be reminded of how it feels to witness their investment portfolios declining by up to 30% in 2000 and 2001. Knowing that you are not alone does little to remedy the feelings of loss.

Peapack, NJ-For Pharmacia Ophthalmology, these can be considered exciting times.

Olopatadine HCl 0.1% (Patanol, Alcon) is significantly more effective than ketotifen fumarate 0.025% (Zaditor, Novartis), nedocromil sodium 2% (Alocril, Allergan), and azelastine HCl 0.05% (Optivar, Muro) in relieving itching associated with allergic conjunctivitis and has a comfort advantage as well, according to results of prospective, double-masked comparison studies.

When faced with a patient having lash or eyebrow hair loss, a careful history searching for clues is help-ful. Hair loss involving the eyelashes or eye-brow area may result from several conditions including skin diseases, drug side effects, endocrine abnormalities, metabolic abnormalities, inflammation, toxins, radiation effects, systemic diseases, infection, and trauma.

"Everyone alters and is altered by everyone else. We are all the time taking in portions of one another or else reacting against them, and by these involuntary acquisitions and repulsions modifying ourselves."