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TIPS,
TRENDS & NEWS YOU CAN USE
ARRESTED WITH 1,100 LENSES
Texas
Man Charged in Selling Contacts
Police arrested a 39-year-old
man for selling contact lenses at a flea market in El Paso, Texas. According to
a report filed by the El Paso Police Department, Jesus Flores-Enriquez was charged
with selling prescription contact lenses, without a permit, to consumers who did
not have prescriptions.
In an undercover investigation, detectives from the vice unit
purchased lenses from Flores and ultimately confiscated more than 1,100 contact
lenses. In Texas, the sale of prescription contact lenses without a permit constitutes
a violation of Chapter 353 of the Occupations Code. The code also requires that
contact lenses be dispensed only with a current valid prescription, a provision
consistent with the federal "Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act," which was
enacted in December 2003.
Flores
faces up to 180 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $2,000 dollars. The contact
lenses were confiscated from his booth at the Lower Valley Swap Meet. The police
department also issued a reminder to the public, stating that "it is very dangerous
to obtain any medical services or prescriptions from individuals not licensed by
the state to conduct such business."
CONTACT
LENS SOLUTION RECALLED
AMO Recalls 18 Lots of Complete
MoisturePLUS
Advanced
Medical Optics (AMO) announced a voluntary recall of 18 lots of its 12-ounce Complete
MoisturePLUS multipurpose disinfecting solution and Active Packs after three lots
sold in Japan were found to have bacterial contamination. The recalled lots distributed
in the U.S. were manufactured on the same production lines during the same time
period as the contaminated lots sold in Japan. AMO has not received any reports
of adverse health events associated with the recalled product lots in the U.S. The
recall includes approximately 183,000 units, representing less than 1% of the Complete
MoisturePLUS contact lens products distributed in the U.S. on an annual basis.
Randy Meier, executive vice president,
operations, president, global eye care and chief financial officer for the company
said, "AMO is committed to taking all necessary measures to remedy this production-line
issue and protect the trust physicians and patients place in our products."
The 4- and 16-ounce bottles, professional
samples and packs provided to eyecare practitioners are not included in the recall.
Patients who believe they are in possession of the recalled product should discontinue
use immediately and call the company at 1-877-884-7779, or visit the company's Web
site at http://www.amo-inc.com.
NEW
GP MATERIAL
FDA Approves Paragon Z CRT
Paragon
Vision Sciences officially launched the Paragon Z CRT following FDA approval for
over-night corneal reshaping. The lenses are manufactured with Menicon Z, which
the company says has a Dk value of 163, and Paragon HDS 100 materials. The Paragon
CRT and Z CRT are available in powers up to -6.00D and astigmatism up to
-1.75D. Paragon will begin accepting orders for its Diagnostic Dispensing
system on Dec. 7 at the American Academy of Optometry meeting. Paragon certified
practitioners can order the new lenses from authorized labs on Jan. 15, 2007.
TOY-RELATED INJURIES
PBA Wants Safer Holiday Season
Prevent Blindness America has declared
December "Safe Toys and Gifts Month" and offers common sense suggestions for a safer
holiday season:
• Avoid toys that shoot or include parts that fly off.
• Toys should be durable, with no sharp edges or points and
be able to withstand impact.
• Look for "ASTM," which means the product meets the American
Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards.
A MONTHLY
MODALITY LENS
CooperVision Announces New Multifocal
CooperVision
introduced the Proclear Multifocal Toric, the only multifocal toric available in
a monthly modality. The lens allows long-time toric lens wearers who are developing
presbyopia to continue wearing monthly soft contact lenses.
The new lens is manufactured with CooperVision's patented "PC
Technology" to enhance the lens-wearing experience for astigmatic presbyopes, the
company says.
As with the Proclear and Fre-quency Multifocal, the new toric
utilizes the "Balanced Progressive Technology" design, a multifocal system that
allows for independent adjustment of either distance sphere power or ADD power of
a maxi-mum of +/- 0.50. The technology allows practitioners more control and flexibility
when fitting because the lens can be independently adjusted to suit individual patient
needs, even as their vision correction needs change, CooperVision says.
Proclear Multifocal Toric lenses are available in a sphere power
range of +4.00D to -6.00D in 0.25D steps; ADD powers of +1.00D, +1.50D, +2.00D and
+2.50D; cylinder powers of -0.75, -1.25, -1.75 and -2.25; two base curves of 8.4mm
and 8.8mm; and an axis of 5Þ to 180Þ in 5Þ steps.
management tip of
the month
Two
reasons to delegate now
By Neil B. Gailmard, O.D., M.B.A., F.A.A.O.
Even if you feel your practice is not
busy enough to delegate tasks, you should still delegate. Here's why:
1. You can compress your patient schedule
into fewer days and create more time for management. This will pay dividends in
building a busier practice. If you perform exams every hour over a four-day week,
try seeing the same number of patients in two days. Devote the other days to management.
Now, you will see patients every half
hour. You can accomplish this by hiring a technician and buying an automated instrument
to use in pretesting; by equipping a second exam room, so staff can get the next
patient ready; and by, in general, becoming more efficient.
On your management days, concentrate
on staff training, marketing, community involvement, office procedures and technology,
reading management books and a host of things you will see around your office.
2. You will immediately create the
appearance of a busy and successful practice. Instead of seeing a slow office where
the doctor does everything, your patients will see a busy, vital practice. That
perception is worth a great deal. People refer others to places they believe are
successful and well-run. And people judge your skills by what they see and understand.
There is a cost to making your practice
appear successful, and you should not take that lightly. Do not take on more financial
obligations than you can handle. But also realize that you must spend money to make
money and that there is no better investment than your own practice.
This "Tip of the Month," was excerpted
from the Optometric Tip of the Week e-newsletter. Both a free subscription to the
newsletter and an unabridged version of this tip are available at
www.optometric.com.
O.D.
NOTEBOOK
■
VSP pledged $5 million to
its Vision Loans, formerly Vision One Loans, which provides funds to private-practice
eye doctors to purchase their first practice. Since its inception in 2003, VSP has
issued loans totaling more than $13 million.
■ Carl
Zeiss Vision has helped establish a new fellowship program with the American Optometric
Foundation, the AOF Carl Zeiss Vision (CZV) Fellowship. The Fellowship presents
one $5,000 award to a third-year student at each of the schools and colleges of
optometry in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
■ Lippincott
Williams & Wilkins (LWW), the publisher of Optometric Management, has created
HealthJobsPlus.com, an online career search tool developed specifically for healthcare
professionals. The Website will serve over 225 specialties.
■ Bausch
& Lomb named Christopher Snyder, O.D., M.S. director of professional relations
for Lens Care/OTC products within the vision care business of the Americas Region.
■ ClearVision
Optical's Mary Loehr was awarded the "Volunteer of the Year Award" from the Carol
M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund.
Optometric Management, Issue: December 2006