TrueVision 3D Surgical and Lensar Inc. recently announced a global co-development and distribution agreement that integrates TrueVision’s TrueGuide system into the Lensar Laser System’s technology suite.

According to the first major study of color blindness in a multi-ethnic group of preschoolers, which was recently published in Ophthalmology, Caucasian male children have the highest prevalence among 4 major ethnicities, with 1 in 20 testing color vision deficient.

Three states-Arizona, Nebraska, and Tennessee-recently experienced changes in their scope-of-practice legislation.

According to a report from a television station in Cincinnati, OH, some teenagers are now applying Burt’s Bees lip balm onto the outside of their eyelids to enhance intoxication from alcohol or other drugs. They call it “beezin.”

Today, the surgical correction of refractive error is most commonly performed on the cornea. LASIK surgery is the most popular form of refractive surgery in the U.S. with more than 16.5 million procedures performed to date.1 For many of our patients, LASIK may be the best surgical option, but sometimes removing tissue from the cornea may not be the best surgical option.

According to a recent report from the International Federation of Health Plans, health care costs in the United States-including prescriptions, hospitalizations, and routine surgical procedures-often significantly outweigh costs in other countries.

I was working in San Francisco, I had a biology and chemistry degree, I didn’t like what I was doing anymore and met an optometrist. I had good experiences in optometry in my hometown with Dr. Crouch, and I decided that I’d pursue optometry. It seemed like a good match in my interest in helping people and science.

Primary care optometrists play a crucial role in the wellbeing of a child, often serving as the gatekeeper for the critical care of our youngest patients. After hours, these doctors must sift through a vast array of evidence-based literature to foster the insight required just to get through a day in the life.

Late yesterday afternoon, Valeant Pharmaceuticals announced that it had proposed a merger with Allergan.

Avedro Inc. has received a complete response letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding its new drug application (NDA) for riboflavin ophthalmic solution/KXL System to treat keratoconus and corneal ectasia after refractive surgery.

CooperVision, Inc., through its subsidiary WebSystem3 LLC, recently unveiled Eye Care Prime Premier, which brings individualized, digital marketing consulting and execution services to eyecare practices across the United States.

Clear Care Cleaning and Disinfecting Solution, produced by Alcon, now has packaging enhancements that include a newly redesigned closure system and an updated bottle design. The new cartons are expected to hit shelves as early as April 2014.

Konan’s Chart2020 Duo app has a new media library enhancement released for the iPad. The media library is available for a limited time at an introductory price from the Apple iTunes Store.

I sometimes wonder why, in the rush to build the medical model, so many of my colleagues seemingly abandon the retail aspects of our profession. Many ODs seem to want to forget or diminish that our historical contribution to vision has been mainly centered around the correction, refractive, and binocular vision function and development.

Leisure Society Eyewear recently released a retro-inspired sunglass collection. The frames are cast out of 12 k, 18 k, and 24 k gold-plated titanium and feature metal and buffalo horn accents, VS1 diamond insets, and CR-39 polarized lenses.

Most dispensing optometric practices are fielding frequent requests from their patient base to provide pupillary distance (PD) measurements along with a copy of a prescription for eyeglasses. There are varied responses among doctors, the eyecare professionals (ECPs), and other staff members as to how to handle this request.

This is a critical time for private practitioners. There is more competition from commercial retail chains, lower reimbursements from managed vision care (MVC) plans, confusion still lingers regarding the Affordable Care Act, and the economy is not back to pre-recession levels. The average OD chose the profession for the clinical aspects and to help patients, not to be a CEO.

Optometry Times’ Chief Optometric Editor Ernest Bowling, OD, FAAO, joins the National Academies of Practice and the Optometry Academy as a Distinguished Practitioner and Fellow.

When asked which is the safest mode of contact lens wear, most doctors reply, “daily disposables.” When asked which is the most convenient mode of lens wear, most doctors reply, “daily disposables.” When asked which is the most comfortable mode of lens wear, most doctors reply, “daily disposables.”

Like a lot of folks, I suffer from seasonal allergies. While the red, watery eyes do spring up (no pun intended), this time of year I am much more bothered by the constant, unrelenting runny nose accompanying my seasonal allergy attacks. Which shouldn’t be surprising. -42% of patients suffering from allergic conjunctivitis also experience symptoms of allergic rhinitis (AR).