Can you believe that it is finally 2020? Eyecare practitioners everywhere have been waiting for this year to come. It is Contact Lens Spectrum’s tradition each January to summarize the contact lens-related events of the last year. We also select an “Event of the Year,” which we think is a nice way to cap the prior year. To help in the process, we solicited feedback from our readership, contributing editors, and key opinion leaders in the field.

There were several nominations this year. One was the International Association of Contact Lens Educators’ (IACLE) 40th anniversary; we certainly congratulate this organization for all that it has done to further the field of contact lenses. Yet another nomination was the continued penetration of alternative online channels for both distributing and prescribing contact lenses. In Aug. 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted a recall notice for Visibly’s (formerly Opternative) Online Refractive Vision Test. And, in the Nov. 2019 Contact Lenses Today Quick Poll, more than 80% of respondents said that these alternative channels have had a negative impact on the contact lens portion of their practices (www.clspectrum.com/newsletters/contact-lenses-today/november-24,-2019 ).

However, one particular initiative stands out this year. In addition, this is the first time in our publication’s history that we have repeated a prior event. There is absolutely no doubt that the myopia initiative continues from 2018 to also be the 2019 Contact Lens Event of the Year.

While we do not have the space to list all of the reasons, two pivotal events speak to the continued momentum of the myopia initiative. First, in February, the International Myopia Institute published a special edition of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science that was solely dedicated to myopia. This was a consensus and evidence-based attempt by the community to develop shared definitions, guidelines, and recommendations as they relate to myopia and its control. Also notable was the FDA’s recent decision to approve the first-ever contact lens for the control of myopia progression (MiSight, Coopervision). This is a significant event in and of itself and speaks to the continued excitement in the ophthalmic community about myopia and its management.

Looking ahead, Contact Lens Spectrum has a tremendous line-up of timely and cutting-edge content planned for 2020. Thank you to all of our readers and supporters for a fabulous 2019, and we look forward to an even better year in 2020. Happy New Year!

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The goal of Contact Lens Spectrum is to provide you with timely and thought-provoking articles that will help you become a more successful contact lens practitioner. Please let us know how we’re doing! E-mail CLSpectrum@pentavisionmedia.com with your comments or article submissions.