• Twenty-three percent of medical device-associated adverse events in children that presented in the emergency room were associated with contact lens wear. Findings of a two-year study from the journal Pediatrics and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) state that these events included abrasions and ulcers of the cornea and conjunctivitis. In this study, the biggest culprits of contact lens complications were non-compliance with the prescribed wearing or replacement schedules and poor contact lens wear and care habits.

• The 1-Day Acuvue Trueye contact lens from Vistakon has received the Seal of Acceptance for Ultraviolet Absorbing Contact Lenses from the American Optometric Association’s (AOA) Commission on Ophthalmic Standards. The lens meets AOA specifications for ultraviolet absorbing contact lenses.

• TearLab Corporation and Abbott Medical Optics Inc.’s Canadian subsidiary, AMO Canada have entered into a cooperative marketing agreement, in which AMO Canada’s sales force will directly sell the TearLab Osmolarity System in Canada, while TearLab will help promote AMO Canada’s products for the relief of dry eye symptoms, including Blink Moisturizing Eye Drops. 

•  SynergEyes has introduced a modification to its SynergEyes Multifocal lens that slightly flattens the lens at the RGP periphery and through the soft skirt, which creates a less pronounced landing zone across a broader area of peripheral cornea. Patients with small corneas or corneas with high eccentricity values, as well as those who experience discomfort, tightness or removal issues after all other parameters are optimized should benefit from this modification.

Bring Back Discontinued Lenses
The Phoenix Program from Alden Optical Inc allows practitioners to offer their patients contact lenses with discontinued soft sphere brands. Alden Optical offers lenses in polymacon, methafilcon, Benz 3X and Benz 5X in any base curve/diameter combination and with spherical powers of +/- 30.00D. Through the Phoenix Program, practitioners can call Alden Optical or an authorized distributor with a prescription and brand specifications, and the company will custom manufacture a very close replacement to the original lens. For more information, go to www.aldenoptical.com.

New and Improved Lens Packaging
Paragon CRT SureFit lenses from Paragon Vision Sciences are now available in an improved packaging system. The modern CRT SureFit 3-pack fitting and dispensing system allows certified CRT practitioners to receive one CRT SureFit box per eye. The new outer packaging features right eye and left eye identifiers, and the fitting instructions direct the practitioner to begin the fitting process with the lens labeled “OD-1” and/or “OS-1.”

Based on a patient’s “K” readings and spectacle Rx, the first lens in the CRT SureFit 3-Pack is the lens that has the highest probability of first fit success. Should the first lens not be dispensable, the second and third lenses have pre-determined parameters, and one of them should provide a successful CRT fit for the patient, the company says.

The inside of the packaging shows an oversized fluorescein pattern of a perfectly fit CRT lens, which includes a centered bulls-eye pattern, a uniform band of tears in the return zone and acceptable landing zone angle for proper edge lift.

Currently, corneal reshaping patients qualify for CRT SureFit when they have flat keratometric readings of 42.00D to 45.00D, spectacle refraction (vertexed) of -4.00D and below, and a corneal cylinder of up to -1.00D. For more information, go to www.paragoncrt.com/surefit.

Sales Guide
ABB Concise has released a new sales brochure for its Signature GP lenses, including those with standard, multifocal and irregular corneal lens designs.

Standard lens designs include the OxyFlow, EdgeLift, Pliaflex and VerAcon Aspheric. Multifocal designs include the Mandell Seamless multifocal, Natural Vision bifocal and Versare. Lens designs for the irregular cornea include the cCone, eCone, xCone and SurgiLens.

The new guide describes which design is most appropriate for individual patient characteristics.For more information, go to www.abbconcise.com.

Visual Inspiration
“Inspiration in Your Eyes,” a contest from Bausch + Lomb, celebrates the launch of the company’s newest lens care product, Biotrue multipurpose solution. The contest invites patients to share a story about a visually inspiring U.S. location. The grand prizewinner will receive a fully paid trip for two to one of the top 10 most visually inspiring places in the U.S., according to “Best Places” expert Bert Sperling. His survey revealed the top 10 visually inspiring sites to be the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Statue of Liberty, Golden Gate Bridge, Glacier National Park, Waimea Canyon, Columbia River Gorge, Garden of the Gods, and Glacier Bay National Park.

Bausch + Lomb has also offered free admission to visitors at the Aquarium by the Bay in San Francisco, the Space Needle in Seattle, the John Hancock Observatory in Chicago, as well as ferry tickets to Ellis Island in New York. For more information, go to www.biotrue.com.