NEWSspectrum
CDC Promotes Contact Lens Health Week
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in collaboration with partners from clinical, public health, industry, and regulatory sectors, is promoting the first annual Contact Lens Health Week from Nov. 17 to 21, 2014. This year’s theme is “You only have one pair of eyes, so take care of them!”
The campaign aims to promote healthy contact lens wear and care practices that can help reduce the risk of eye infections and complications associated with improper contact lens use. As teens and young adults are at increased risk for eye infections associated with contact lens wear, the campaign primarily targets contact lens wearers ages 18 to 22 years old, but it also includes messages and materials suitable for all contact lens wearers.
For more information on Contact Lens Health Week, a campaign promotion toolkit, and resources for promoting healthy contact lens wear and care throughout the year, visit www.cdc.gov/contactlenses.
Alden Optical Supports SLS
Alden Optical has become a Platinum Level Sponsor of the Scleral Lens Education Society (SLS), a non-profit organization committed to teaching contact lens practitioners the science and art of fitting all designs of scleral contact lenses for the purpose of managing corneal irregularity and ocular surface disease.
SLS supports public education that highlights the benefits and availability of scleral contact lenses.
STAPLE Program Holds 100th Workshop
The STAPLE (Soft Toric and Presbyopic Lens Education) Program, a collaborative effort on the part of Alcon, Bausch + Lomb, CooperVision, and Vistakon, Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., held its 100th workshop on Sept. 29, 2014, at The Ohio State University.
These workshops bring educators and industry together to provide second- and third-year optometry students with hands-on experience fitting soft toric and soft multifocal lenses on actual patients in a non-competitive environment.
Since the STAPLE Program held its first workshop in Jan. 2012, nearly 7,000 student encounters have taken place in the 57 toric and 43 multifocal workshops. The program, managed by Wink Productions, Inc., has become a “staple” in 21 of the schools of optometry in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit www.stapleprogram.com.
B+L Appoints Directors, Professional Strategy
Bausch + Lomb (B+L) has announced the newly created positions and appointments of Jill Saxon, OD, and Todd Love, as directors of Professional Strategy. Dr. Saxon and Mr. Love will coordinate the company’s eyecare professional (ECP) outreach efforts across the Vision Care business through a range of initiatives including strengthening its focus and support of academic optometry colleges and universities.
Dr. Saxon will be responsible for developing and delivering the company’s sales training curriculum, maximizing product launches through professional educational events and other programs, and continuing to forge relationships while expanding the team’s professional outreach program with key optometric industry members.
Immediately prior to joining B+L, Dr. Saxon served as an optometrist for more than five years in Randolph, N.J., where she specialized in adult and pediatric eye care.
Todd Love will focus on the development of current and future key opinion leaders, optometric institutions, and professional programs.
Immediately prior to joining B+L, he served as the director, market development at Alcon Laboratories, where he focused on driving Alcon’s U.S. strategy and outreach for the company’s key opinion leaders program. He has extensive experience in the optometric industry spanning more than 15 years in a variety of sales, marketing, and professional development leadership roles.
Dr. Saxon and Mr. Love will join Benjamin Chudner, OD, director, Professional Strategy, on this newly created team. Dr. Chudner is responsible for leading B+L’s speaker bureau program, strengthening the key advocate dinner meetings held nationwide, and supporting the brand marketing teams on strategic initiatives.
ALCON US VISION CARE CHANGES LEADERSHIP
Alcon has appointed Eric Bruno as the new general manager for Alcon US Vision Care. He replaces Jim Murphy, who is being promoted to president, Alcon Japan.
Mr. Bruno most recently served as the Global Franchise Head of Vision Care at Alcon. He joined Alcon in 2012 and brought together Alcon’s Vision Care under the umbrella of “Performance Driven by Science.” Prior to joining Alcon, he spent 16 years at Johnson & Johnson in roles of increasing responsibility, including vice president positions, overseeing the company’s over-the-counter business, and its Ethicon Endo Surgery business.
ABB Optical Announces Winners of ABB Cares
ABB Optical Group, the nation’s leading distributor of optical products, recently announced the winners of its new signature annual grants program, ABB Cares. Launched in August, ABB Optical Group created the program to highlight and celebrate outstanding organizations throughout the country that have improved the quality of life in communities served by the company.
In its inaugural year, the ABB Cares program received more than 140 applications for non-profit organizations nominated by eyecare professionals nationwide. Due to the amount of outstanding applications received, ABB Optical Group expanded the number of $1,000 grants available from five to 10.
The 2014 ABB Cares grant program recipients include Best Buddies Indiana of Indianapolis, Ind.; Buddy Cruise of Lithia, Fla.; Corpus Christi Metro Ministries of Corpus Christi, Texas; Hope Children’s Home of Tampa, Fla.; Lighthouse of Pinellas of Largo, Fla.; MEND of Pacoima, Calif.; Prevent Blindness Northern California of San Francisco; Semper Fido of Marlton, N.J.; Southeastern Guide Dogs of Palmetto, Fla.; and Vision to Learn of Los Angeles.
TFOS Wants to Know Your Vision
The Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society (TFOS) International invites members of the eyecare community to join the TFOS International The Power of Your Vision Contest and win $2,500 for your vision.
To participate, answer the following question in 250 words or less:
1. How can TFOS better achieve its mission?
2. How can you help TFOS achieve this mission?
Entries must be received by Nov. 21, 2014. This competition is open to all, with the exception of the TFOS Board of Directors (BOD) and the TFOS Scientific Advisory Counsel (SAC). Responses must be written in the “Vision Box” and be less than or equal to 250 words. The TFOS SAC will select the 10 best responses, and the BOD will select the two winners from the 10 finalists. The finalists and the winners will be announced, and visions will be posted on the TFOS website. The winners will be awarded $2,500 each.
For official rules, visit www.tearfilm.org/pdfs/TFOS-Contest-Power-to-your-Vision-rules-regulations.pdf. To access the Vision Box and send your vision, visit www.tearfilm.org/contest2.php.
INDUSTRY BRIEFS
■ Clarke D. Newman, OD, FAAO, recently was named the Gas Permeable Lens Institute (GPLI) GP Practitioner of the Year. The award is presented for outstanding professional expertise in fitting customized contact lenses to benefit patients with improved vision and corneal health and to advance the contact lens field. Dr. Newman owns Plaza Vision Center in Dallas; he has developed a national reputation for excellence in the management of specialty contact lens patients as well as in the area of practice management, notably coding and billing.
■ The British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) has opened online submissions for scientific abstracts, and case reports in poster format, to be presented at its 2015 Clinical Conference and Exhibition from May 29 to 31, 2015 at the ACC Liverpool, UK. Authors submitting scientific papers and/or posters before Nov. 30, 2014 will be able to take advantage of a pre-screening service, which gives authors the chance to obtain feedback from BCLA Academic Committee members. Scientific abstracts are considered on any topic related to contact lenses and/or the anterior eye, and authors can choose between “poster only” and “poster/oral presentation” at the point of submission. Clinical case studies may also be submitted in this category. The final deadline for submitting papers and posters is Jan. 16, 2015.
■ Bausch + Lomb (B+L) has named Tony Sommer head of sales for its U.S. Vision Care division. Mr. Sommer will be responsible for managing the U.S. sales function for B+L’s Vision Care business. Sommer will help plan, develop and execute growth plans and strategic business strategies to maximize market opportunities and grow the lens product portfolio. Mr. Sommer has nearly two decades of experience in the packaged goods, healthcare, and medical device industry, where he’s served a variety of U.S. and international roles across a number of business divisions with companies including General Mills, Coca Cola, and Ciba Vision/Novartis.
■ NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development and commercialization of its non-antibiotic anti-infective products, announced that NovaBay’s i-Lid Cleanser with Neutrox will be added to the Vision Source Independent Optometry Network, which represents 2,800 independent optometrist offices.
■ Novaliq GmbH, a drug delivery company with a focus on the topical application of ophthalmic technologies for poorly soluble drugs, has reported positive phase 1 results with a clear cyclosporine solution eye drop formulation in clinical development for dry eye syndrome. Objectives of the 18-patient, phase 1, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled cross-over study were to investigate safety, local tolerability, and systemic exposure of CyclASol (cyclosporine solution) eye drops and vehicle following single and multiple ocular doses in healthy volunteers. No drug-related signs or symptoms of ocular discomfort or irritation were reported.
■ The American Optometric Association (AOA) is offering a 2015 International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) coding bundle for purchase. This coding bundle is unique to the optometric profession and can only be purchased through the AOA Marketplace. Healthcare professionals are required to begin using the ICD-10 code set beginning on Oct. 1, 2015.
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