editor's perspective

Extended Wear ... Will Anyone Care?

BY JOSEPH T. BARR, OD, MS, EDITOR
FEBRUARY 1998

I was pondering whether or not when the new extended wear contact lenses become available, perhaps some time in 1998, anyone would care. Will eyecare practitioners really believe they are better than the lenses that are currently available? Will they believe they are profitable? By then, even more daily disposable lenses will be available and they will be less costly. Even though surveys indicate that patients want extended wear contact lenses, will they ask for them when the lenses are approved? Certainly, demand will be created by manufacturers through advertising in an attempt to recoup their significant research investment.

The Vision Industry Council of America recently reported that a minimal cleaning requirement is the feature that contact lens wearers who were surveyed chose most often for adding value to the contact lens product that they purchase. And 52 percent of contact lens wearers surveyed said that the eyecare practitioner's recommendation is the most important consideration in their contact lens purchasing decision (nearly double that of eyeglass purchasers). Another recent study reported that over three-fourths of patients who ask for a brand actually get that brand from the eyecare practitioner.

It appears contact lens wearers want convenience. I am certain they do ... I do, my patients do and my family does. And it appears that patients will follow their eyecare practitioner's directions to a point. It also appears that when patients ask for a specific product, they are likely to get it if their eyecare practitioner perceives that it is safe. But will the impact of the next generation extended wear lenses follow the same path as disposable lenses? In the beginning, the FDA and the manufacturers wanted a truly disposable lens, one that was worn for a week and then discarded. Then advertising brought in patients who were asking for these wonderful new lenses. But practitioners found that their patients could have their disposable lenses and daily wear too, so two-week disposing of contact lenses combined with simple lens care was born, and it thrives today. Not exactly as the FDA and manufacturers had planned.

We salute the manufacturers who take the risk of investigating new extended wear contact lenses and hope that when they finally are available, they will be a valuable option for our patients.