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Catch up on the top stories in optometry during the week of April 21-April 25.

Takeaways from this week in optometry: April 21 - April 25

Articles

Researchers found that repeated therapy using low-level red light (RLRL) is a potential intervention to control myopia progression in children.

Changes in cone density after low-level red light treatment in children with myopia 

Videos

Matt Jones, OD; Matt Burns, OD; and Joe Sugg, OD; detailed what optometrists can expect to change when HB 1353's regulations are enacted later this year.

Arkansas' passage of HB 1353 received well by optometrists in the state

Participants received either Systane Hydration UD (Alcon, Fort Worth, TX) or saline eye drops (NeilMed, Santa Rosa, CA) 4 times a day for 4 weeks each. 

Treating DED can reduce migraine severity, according to study

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Catherine L. Heyman, OD, FAAO, FCOVD, shares highlights from her AOA 2022 presentation, "Evaluation and Management of Patients with Special Needs."

Tips on creating a space, treating patients with special needs

A new optical laboratory is now available for opticianry students at Seneca Polytechnic.

 The HOYA Vision Care Eyeglass Dispensing Lab at Seneca’s Newnham Campus provides an immerse learning experience for students to develop their skills through hands-on experiential learning in a space that replicates a high-end retail optical dispensing and vision testing environment, according to a news release.

“We are thankful to HOYA for the generous donation that made our new Dispensing Lab possible,” said David Agnew, president of Seneca Polytechnic, in the release. “Students are already benefitting tremendously from this new facility and its sophisticated equipment, ensuring that they transition seamlessly from education to employment.”

The laboratory is equipped with professional-grade technology, which allows students to practice skills including taking precise measurements, selecting appropriate frames, and ensuring proper fittings of eyewear. The space will be available for students in Seneca’s opticianry diploma program, which will authorize them to dispense contact lenses, eyeglasses, and subnormal vision devices.

“HOYA is proud to support the next generation of opticians through our sponsorship of Seneca Polytechnic and our commitment to the optical industry in Canada,” said Steven Haifawi, president of HOYA Vision Care, Canada, in the release. “We are ensuring that future eye care professionals have the skills, knowledge, and resources needed to provide great service to their communities.”

Seneca’s 2-year diploma program is offered in a hybrid delivery format, with some coursework that can be completed online and others to be completed in person. Students can choose from in-person, hybrid, and flexible formats. Courses are available in winter, summer, and fall semesters.

Students who graduate from the program have options for careers in retail optical dispensaries, contact lens clinics, medical clinics, and a health care delivery team. In Canada, registered opticians prepare work orders that give ophthalmic laboratory technicians information to prepare lenses for a frame. Some opticians prepare and finish lenses themselves. Opticians also work to verify the product is completed to the specifications ordered after the design is completed and the eyeglasses are made.

Some opticians in Canada specialize in fitting contact lenses, artificial eyes, or cosmetic shells to cover blemished eyes. Opticians will measure the eye, selecting contact lens material type, and preparing work orders. After delivery, opticians will assist with insertion and will inspect the patient’s eyes, corneas, lids, and contact lenses, and will provide insertion, removal, and care education to patients about their contacts, cosmetic shells, or artificial eyes.

Seneca Polytechnic launches new opticianry lab through gift from HOYA Vision Care. News release. Seneca Polytechnic. April 22, 2025. Accessed April 23, 2025. 

https://www.senecapolytechnic.ca/news-and-events/media-releases/2025/seneca-polytechnic-launches-new-opticianry-lab-through-gift-from-hoya-vision-care.html

Opticianry (OPTC). Seneca Polytechnic. Accessed April 23, 2025. 

https://www.senecapolytechnic.ca/programs/fulltime/OPTC.html

Scope of practice. NACOR. Accessed April 23, 2025. 

https://nacor.ca/about/opticians/scope-of-practice/

The laboratory is equipped with professional-grade technology and replicates a high-end retail optical dispensing and vision testing environment.

New HOYA Vision Care Eyeglass Dispensing Lab available for Seneca Polytechnic opticianry students

Arkansas Optometric Association legislative cochairs Matt Jones, OD; Matt Burns, OD; and Joe Sugg, OD, discuss their involvement in their bill and provide context for its relevance. 

Arkansas Optometric Association outlines its latest legislature success in HB 1353

Starting in August 2025, with additional provisions to roll out based on plan renewals, contract changes, or by January 1, 2026, the relationship between optometrists and vision benefits managers (VBMs) will be changing in the state of Arkansas. HB 1353 will work to rebalance providers’ interactions with VBMs by expanding regulations and implementing more extensive reimbursement requirements. Joe Sugg, OD; Matt Jones, OD; and Matt Burns, OD; legislative cochairs with the Arkansas Optometric Association (ArOA), sat down with 

to discuss the new legislation. They emphasized how the association provides a unified platform for optometrists to address industry challenges collectively. 

The key motivations behind the bill stem from long-standing issues in vision care contracts. Optometrists have been facing increasingly restrictive "contracts of adhesion" with vision plans, where providers have minimal negotiation power. These contracts have consistently squeezed independent practitioners, particularly regarding reimbursement rates that have remained stagnant despite rising operational costs. Sugg and Jones, who have both been private practice owners since 2009, detailed how vision benefit managers have been vertically integrating the market by consolidating frames, labs, electronic health records, and e-commerce platforms. This consolidation creates significant pressure on small business owners and limits their competitive capabilities. 

The bill's development involved collaboration with the American Optometric Association (AOA) and leaders nationwide. Their goal was to create legislation that would protect eye care providers and improve patient access. The speakers noted similar legislative efforts in states like Texas and Oklahoma, expressing hope that the Arkansas bill might inspire nationwide reform. When presenting the bill to legislators, they found surprising receptivity. Lawmakers quickly understood the parallels with pharmacy benefit manager regulations and recognized the need to protect small businesses. The bill's core principles seemed inherently logical to legislators – advocating for provider rankings based on quality of care rather than product sales. Jones highlighted the bill's consumer-friendly nature, arguing it would steer patients toward practices based on medical care quality instead of product sales. He also pointed out the stark reality that service reimbursement rates haven't increased since vision plans' inception, despite exponential increases in operational costs. 

Nationally, Jones and Sugg expressed optimism about potential federal legislation like the DOC Access Act, which could address similar issues in vision and dental insurance markets. Jones, Sugg, and Burns ultimately portrayed the bill as a critical step in protecting optometric practices and ensuring fair, patient-centered health care delivery.

Bausch + Lomb has announced that its ONE by ONE Recycling and Biotrue Eye Care Recycling programs have collected a total of 103,169,500 units, or 625,026 pounds, of used contact lenses, eye care, and lens care materials in the US.

 That weight is the equivalent of approximately 600 concert grand pianos, according to a news release.

“These award-winning recycling programs continue to drive a positive environmental impact, offering eye care professionals, patients, and consumers a way to properly recycle used eye health materials,” said Amy Butler, vice president of global environment, health, safety, and sustainability at Bausch + Lomb, in the release.

Contact lenses, eye care, and lens care materials are often inefficiently processed in standard recycling facilities due to their small size and the type of plastic used to manufacture them. Thus, they are disposed of in landfills or end up in waterways. In the US, an estimated 6 to 10 metric tons of disposed contact lenses end up in wastewater each year.

“The ONE by ONE and Biotrue Eye Care Recycling programs allow my practice and patients to responsibly recycle eye health items—something that wasn’t possible until these programs became available," said Jennifer Tsai, OD, of LINE OF SIGHT in New York, in the release. "We’re proud to collect these materials and contribute to a cleaner environment and healthier planet.”

The ONE by ONE Recycling program has collected over 101 million used contact lenses, blister packs, and top foils since the program’s launch in November 2016. For the Biotrue Eye Care Recycling program, 1.3 million eye drop single-dose units, lens cases, lens solution caps, and all Biotrue-branded eye drop bottles have been collected since the program’s April 2021 launch. Additionally, for every 10 lb collected for the ONE by ONE program, a $10 donation is made to Optometry Giving Sight. Bausch + Lomb also has a similar contact lens recycling program in Canada called Every Contact Counts.

The company works to measure its environmental metrics with its FEWW initiative, or fuel, energy, water, and waste.

Eye care practice providers are able to become a TerraCycle public drop-off point by requesting to join the program on TerraCycle’s 

. The company’s administrators will review applications, and volunteer administrators will manage the drop-off points. The administrators will also choose the location, hours, and accepted waste streams. Participants in the program also receive TerraCycle Recycling Rewards for the trash sent in, which can be redeemed as a cash donation to a school, charity, or nonprofit of your choice. To manage a drop-off site, the location needs to be monitored to ensure proper usage, and when boxes are filled, materials then need to be sealed and sent out with prepaid labels. There are no direct costs associated with managing a drop-off location.

After a shipment is sent out and arrives at a material recovery facility, the shipment information, date, weight, and material are recorded. After inspecting and sorting the packages, various material types are sent to third-party partners to recycle all accepted waste. The recycled trash is then made into new products, including outdoor furniture, plastic pellets, tubing for construction applications, and playground surface covers, among others.

Bausch + Lomb reports more than 100 million units of contacts lenses, lens care, and eye care materials collected through ONE by ONE and Biotrue Eye Care Recycling programs. News release. Bausch + Lomb. April 21, 2025. Accessed April 22, 2025. 

https://www.bausch.com/newsroom/news/?id=255

Bausch + Lomb ONE by ONE free recycling program (drop-off). TerraCycle. Accessed April 22, 2025. 

https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/bauschrecyclesinoffice#@40.77027075200147:-95.93705549677736zoom:4

Find a TerraCycle drop-off point. TerraCycle. Accessed April 22, 2025. 

https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/about-terracycle/drop_off_locations#@40.77027075200147:-95.93705549677736zoom:4

The ONE by ONE Recycling and Biotrue Eye Care Recycling programs have collected a total of 103,169,500 units.

Bausch + Lomb recycles a total of over 625,000 pounds of contact lenses and eye care products

Representatives from The Vision Council visited the White House in Washington, DC, to meet with Robin Colwell, deputy assistant to the president and deputy director of the National Economic Council, to discuss vision care and challenges posed by current trade policies.

 A group of representatives from several vision care organizations and companies met to emphasize how tariffs are increasing the cost of eyewear and vision products, many of which are considered Class I medical devices and essential to children, older patients, veterans, and low-income patients, according to a news release.

“We appreciated the opportunity to meet with the White House and share how foundational vision is to Americans’ everyday lives,” said Ashley Mills, CEO of The Vision Council. “This conversation allowed us to highlight both the essential nature of vision care and the impact that rising tariffs are having on our industry and the consumers we serve.”

Other industry leaders present for the meeting were Scott Shapiro, executive director of Industry Relations and former CEO of Europa Eyewear; Brandon Butler, president and CEO of Artisan Lab Network and PAL; Jamie Rosin, owner of Rosin Optical; and Ken Bradley, president and CEO of Eschenbach Optik of America. Shapiro outlined how his US-based manufacturing facility has faced challenges with imported components. He also provided background on how restrictive “Made in USA” labeling regulations can limit a company’s ability to accurately represent domestically assembled products. Butler underscored challenges faced by optical labs in reshoring production, particularly the lack of production in US-made machinery, and the financial strain that tariffs are causing on raw materials. Rosin highlighted the downstream health impacts on patients, particularly children and older adults, when rising costs delay access to care. Bradley stated that increased costs affect publicly funded programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans Affairs, which raises taxpayer burdens while reducing patients served.

The Vision Council also “presented constructive policy ideas aimed at supporting the administration’s goals while easing the pressure on providers and patients,” according to the release. Some of those ideas included revisiting the “Made in USA” labeling standards for products assembled domestically with imported components, regulatory parity with other Class I medical devices in the case that an exemption process is opened, and broader incentives to support domestic manufacturing and supply chain development.

“Our members are committed to strengthening US manufacturing while ensuring that vision care remains affordable and accessible,” Mills added. “We look forward to continuing the conversation and identifying practical solutions together.”

Currently, plastic eyeglass frames, over-the-counter reading glasses, complete eyeglasses, safety glasses, and goggles imported from China are among the products that would be most affected by tariffs, subject to a combined tariff rate of approximately 64% if reciprocal tariffs are rolled out next month. Sunglasses imported from China will be taxed at 63.5%. Additionally, a variety of eyeglass cases, lens processing equipment, and other optical machinery originating from China could face combined duty rates between 80% and 90%.

The Vision Council advocates for the vision industry during White House meeting. News release. The Vision Council. April 22, 2025. Accessed April 22, 2025. 

https://thevisioncouncil.org/blog/vision-council-advocates-vision-industry-during-white-house-meeting

Joy J. Optimism persists among eye care providers despite looming tariffs. 

April 10, 2025. Accessed April 22, 2025. 

https://www.optometrytimes.com/view/optimism-persists-among-eye-care-providers-despite-looming-tariffs

Vision care organizations and companies met to emphasize how tariffs are increasing the cost of eyewear and vision products.

Eye care industry leaders met at the White House to discuss tariff implications

Dana Shannon, OD, FAAO, detailed a lecture she gave at the NOA Midwestern Symposium earlier this month.

NOA Midwestern Symposium 2025: Hypotony-related complication post-trabeculectomy

Dana Shannon, OD, FAAO, detailed a presentation from the 2025 Midwestern Symposium, sponsored by the National Optometric Association and cohosted by Indiana University, on April 5. Shannon focused on hypotony, specifically its relationship to trabeculectomy, a surgical procedure designed to lower eye pressure in patients with glaucoma. Trabeculectomy creates a new drainage pathway in the eye by making an incision in the conjunctiva and sclera, establishing a bleb (fluid collection area) typically located at 12 o'clock underneath the eyelid. While intended to manage eye pressure, this procedure can lead to various complications, particularly hypotony. Hypotony is defined both statistically (eye pressure below 6.5 mm Hg) and clinically, with the clinical definition being more significant for optometrists. Shannon outlined several potential complications associated with low eye pressure:

Corneal changes: Scleral collapse can cause corneal edema and endothelial compromise.

Choroidal effusions: Fluid-filled dome-shaped packs develop in the suprachoroidal space, potentially mimicking retinal detachment.

Hypotony maculopathy: The choroid and retina can wrinkle and buckle, detectable through OCT scans.

Lens nutrient disruption: Reduced aqueous humor can lead to cataract development.

Optic disc edema: More likely in patients with intact nerve fibers.

Anterior chamber shallowing: Potential flattening that could cause the cornea to touch the iris or lens.

Notably, Shannon emphasized that these complications can occur years after the initial surgery, not just in the immediate postoperative period. Two case studies highlighted hypotony developing 4 to 5 years after trabeculectomy, underscoring the importance of long-term monitoring. For optometrists, Shannon recommended several management strategies, including the use of diagnostic tools like OCT scans and retinal photos, employing bandage contact lenses to manage bleb leaks, using cycloplegic drops and topical steroids to manage choroidal effusions, conducting thorough, extended examinations of posttrabeculectomy patients, and promptly referring patients to ophthalmologists when complications are detected.

The ultimate goal is to help optometrists recognize and address subtle clinical findings, ensuring comprehensive patient care and preventing potential long-term eye health complications.

NOA Midwestern Symposium 2025: Hypotony-related complications post trabeculectomy

CRU 2025 provided the latest insights regarding glaucoma, dry eye disease, retina, myopia, neurotrophic keratitis, and keratoconus.

CRU 2025: What eye care providers took home that is current, relevant, and useful

The rustic landscape of Napa Valley hosted CRU 2025, which allowed optometrists and ophthalmologists to learn the latest in glaucoma, retina, and more. In between wine tastings, eye care providers had the chance to reflect on what they are taking back to their practices that is current, relevant, and useful. 

Melissa Tawa, OD, FAAO, highlighted what she learned about inherited retinal diseases at the conference. "I really learned a lot from Dr [Rachelle] Lin's lecture about the changes in inherited retinal diseases and the available gene therapies that we have, and also what's coming down the pipeline in terms of treatment for these patients who were otherwise told that there was nothing available to them, novel mechanisms of getting cells into the eyes that could create enzymes that our bodies are lacking," Tawa said. "It is a really exciting time for me, and it's so wonderful to be at this type of convention where we're learning from experts in all different areas of optometry, from inherited retinal diseases to glaucoma, but also keratoconus management, which is not something that I am focused on, but I get to come to this conference and learn from experts in the states."

Deborah Ristvedt, DO, has gained a revitalized outlook on glaucoma surgery in her commitment to staying relevant with changing treatment options. "There's so many things now that I continue to push myself and challenge myself as a surgeon," she said. "I think the biggest thing is staying relevant with how glaucoma is changing right now. I wish we had an answer to why some people develop glaucoma and others don't, or why some people progress and others don't. That's where minimally invasive glaucoma surgery, as well as procedural pharmaceuticals, have totally changed my practice and my mindset to say, 'We know that we can control pressure. Why not doing do it earlier in the disease?' 

"Thank you so much for having me at CRU," Ristvedt continued. "It's been such a fun opportunity to be amongst my colleagues who are constantly up to date and looking for useful information."

Other ODs also found value in the insights they gained from MDs at CRU. Cecelia Koetting, OD, FAAO, DipABO; and Melissa Barnett, OD, FAAO, FSLS, FBCLA, took the importance of comanagement and collaborative care back to their practices.

"It's CRU; this is its fourth year. I've been here every year," Koetting said. "This is my first year here as a speaker. I'm really excited to be a part of it, but the reason I've kept coming back, and the reason I came to begin with, was because CRU: current, relevant, useful. I find that every time I leave here, I'm learning new things. Yes, I educate, but I'm also learning always. And the big thing here, especially just sitting on the panel with a couple of ophthalmologists recently, just listening and hearing what they have to say as far as their take on neurotrophic keratitis, the different treatments, and then just putting a spin on my thought for things as well."

"What I'm taking back from CRU, which is current, relevant, and useful, is the importance of collaborative care," Barnett said. "So collaborative care, we're talking about patients who have keratoconus, those who have neurotrophic keratitis, and the importance of great communication in order to be best care for our patients."

Catherine L. Heyman, OD, FAAO, FCOVD

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