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."

Another Warning about Decorative CLs--This One from the FDA
Topic: Contact Lenses

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 22, 2002 warned consumers that extended use of non-corrective, decorative contact lenses could result in serious eye injury, potentially leading to blindness.

According to the FDA, extended use of decorative contact lenses, sold to consumers without a prescription and without proper fitting by an eye care professional, could lead to permanent eye damage.

Connecticut CL Specialist Speaks Out
Topic: Contact Lenses
"Having been a contact lens specialist for 15 years, I believe the article 'Bringing Focus To Corrective Lenses' [Business, Oct. 19] misidentified the important trade-offs of shopping online for prescription glasses and contact lenses. The writer readily admits that surveys show that eye doctors and opticians deliver top patient satisfaction" goes the letter to the editor in the HartfordCourant.

Curing Cataracts and Myopia All at Once

Beer Over Eye Tests
Topic: Eye Care
NTNews reports that "the average Territorian would rather spend $10 drinking beer with a mate than paying for eye care, a national survey shows."

OpticalCEUs Draws Outstanding Number of Opticians for Fall Seminar
Topic: Continuing Education

OpticalCEUs today drew more than 120 opticians from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, and Wisconsin. They came to the Conference Center at the lavish and elegant MGM Grand on the grounds of the Foxwoods Hotels and Casinos where they listened to Jean Davidson, Linda Conlin (left), and Herb Fletcher of Younger Optical discuss cosmetics and CLs, ANSI Standards for CLs, the history of eyewear, myopia and CLs, use of the new Sun Lens, the impact of the aging of baby boomers, and finally a CL fitting discussion. In the morning, the opticians enjoyed complimentary coffee and tea, and for lunch, there was an elegantly displayed buffet of cold cuts, breads, salads, and desserts.

Linda Conlin founded F.E. Enterprises in 1998 as way of providing opticians with an additional option for earning continuing education. The periodic challenges found in a typical practice inspired her time and again to use her science background to find answers for the questions and issues that arose during her career. With such a wealth of information at her disposal, Linda found starting the conference—called OpticalCEUs—a natural extension of what she had been doing for years.