News

Registration has opened for International Vision Expo West. More than 13,000 eye care professionals are expected to attend the event, which will be held in the Sands Expo Convention Center in Las Vegas from Sept. 21 to 25.

OCuSOFT, Inc. and Ardeo Health, LLC have entered into an exclusive, multi-year agreement to distribute a dry eye therapy under license from Novagali Pharma S.A. of Evry, France. The therapy, Nova23041, will be marketed and distributed in the U.S. and Canada as Retaine MGD Ophthalmic Emulsion under a brand license from OCuSOFT, Inc. The preservative­free, oil­in­water emulsion will be targeted for individuals suffering from meibomian gland dysfunction.

A preparation of ophthalmic mitomycin (Mitosol, Mobius Therapeutics) has received a third orphan drug designation from the FDA. This indication is for use in preventing corneal haze following surface ablation laser keratectomy, and adds a refractive indication to two previous orphan drug designations for the product: glaucoma and pterygium.

Robert N. Weinreb, MD, has been named chair of the department of ophthalmology and director of the Shiley Eye Center at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, effective June 15.

Aflibercept ophthalmic solution (Eylea, Regeneron) has received a unanimous recommendation from the Dermatologic and Ophthalmic Drugs Advisory Committee of the FDA for the treatment of the neovascular (wet) form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

An open letter urging Congress to acknowledge obesity as a disease and support legislation to ensure access to all effective treatments marks the start of the second phase of Allergan?s Choosing Health over Obesity Inspiring Change through Empowerment (CHOICE) Campaign, which promotes obesity prevention and treatment as well as acceptance of all effective treatments, including weight-loss surgery.

A new multipurpose disinfecting solution (Opti-Free PureMoist, Alcon) is now available for contact lens wearers in the United States.

Bausch + Lomb is launching ?The Daily Score? promotion, whereby eye-care professionals can offer patients the opportunity to obtain the company?s daily disposable lenses (SofLens) for their children for less than $1 per day.

A Maui Jim sunglasses display and ?Lifestyle Lounge? featuring endurance athletes will be part of a 2-day Health and Fitness Expo for runners and casual shoppers before Rock ?n? Roll Marathon Series events in Seattle June 25 and in Chicago Aug. 14.

If you do a good enough job training your staff, you may put yourself out of a job!

Retinal surgeons continue to refine techniques to optimize the safety and efficacy of microincision vitrectomy surgery.

The venturi vacuum modality associated with a proprietary phacoemulsification system seems to be more efficient than its counterpart peristaltic system, with reductions in power and phaco time of 20% and 14% respectively, in 104 cases.

Cataract surgery has emerged as the miracle of 20th century medicine, according to one expert.

Topical anesthesia strabismus surgery for adjustable sutures has advantages, but surgical techniques need to be modified and patients chosen carefully.

A proprietary femtosecond laser system can create a variety of fragmentation patterns, including cubes, spheres, or a combination, by which the crystalline lens can be fragmented using little or no phaco energy in the eye.

New president and leaders of American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery focused on healthcare reform.

More than 5 months after a massive 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti and damaged much of its capital city, American ophthalmologists continue to reach out to help the people suffering there.

Bilateral implantation of an apodized diffractive multifocal IOL provides patients with better intermediate visual acuity, fewer visual disturbances, and less difficulty with visual tasks compared with contralateral implantation.

Administration of intracameral antibiotics, especially vancomycin and moxifloxacin significantly reduces the risk of endophthalmitis compared with using no intracameral antibiotics.

Read a reprinted column from late 2009.

An appreciable number of cases of immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery is being performed nationally each year.

In today's tight economy and competitive eye-care/eyewear market, it is important for eye-care professionals to explore every opportunity to uncover untapped potential revenue streams.

An image-guided femtosecond laser may improve safety and outcomes during cataract surgery by automating some of the manual steps such as capsulorhexis, incisions and nucleus chopping.

Intra-operative use of on-screen image guidance with a high-definition three-dimensional surgical microscope system is showing promise for improving the precision and predictability of various maneuvers during small-incision cataract surgery.

The investigational drug voclosporin has shown positive effects compared with placebo in the management of uveitis in pivotal phase III clinical trials as an oral corticosteroid-sparing drug in patients with clinically quiescent noninfectious uveitis.

Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery seems to be a major step forward as a result of the added safety and precision that the laser confers, such as to the creation of the incision, relaxing incisions, capsulorhexis, and nuclear removal steps.

In the beginning of 2010, some dramatic changes in coding and reimbursement for consultation services occurred.

Both longitudinal and torsional phacoemulsification using a proprietary system resulted in low corneal endothelial loss 3 months after cataract surgery to remove hard cataracts.

Even if incision enlargement is needed for IOL implantation, 1.8-mm coaxial microincision cataract surgery offers patients measurable advantages compared with conventional 2.65-mm coaxial surgery.

Results of a randomized, controlled U.S. pivotal trial of cataract surgery patients confirmed the efficacy and safety of a novel topical ocular bandage for protecting clear corneal incisions and minimizing postoperative pain.