Practice Pulse
Tips, Trends & New You Can Use

FITTING SOFTWARE
Free program for Palm and PC Helps Fit Toric Lenses

CooperVision, Inc. now offers free software to help eyecare practitioners fit toric lenses more accurately. For PCs and the Palm Pilot OS, ToriTrack V#3 facilitates patient record keeping and order placement and provides easy access to information about CooperVision toric lenses.

The Palm Pilot OS version includes patient record-keeping functions, spectacle-to-contact lens conversions and a cross-cylinder fitting system.

"ToriTrack V#3 incorporates Horizontal Visual Iris Diameter (HVID), sphero-cylindrical over-refraction, new fitting algorithms and a product selection filter based on calculated resultants to simplify toric fitting and improve fit accuracy," says Nikki Iravani, O.D., director of clinical research and professional relations at CooperVision.

ToriTrack is available on a CD ROM or as a download from www.coopervision.com. It's designed to run under Microsoft Windows.

UNLICENSED PRACTICE AND DECEPTION ALLEGED
California Sues Pearle Vision

California has filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Pearle Vision, alleging unlicensed practice of optometry, use of deceptive marketing and unfair business practices.

According to Bill Lockyer, the state's attorney general, "We believe Pearle Vision is using improper arrangements with optometrists and deceptive promotions of low-cost eye exams to lure customers to Pearle Vision services."

The lawsuit alleges that Pearl Vision is not licensed by the state to provide optometric services. The suit seeks to have the defendants stop deceptive and misleading sales practices, end unlicensed practicing of optometry and refund the illegally charged eye dilation fees.

Pearle Vision has violated California state law before. In 1982, a San Diego Superior Court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the company from controlling optometrists through eye care franchises and using advertising that implied that the company had optometrists in its retail stores or near its salesrooms. Company founder Stanley Pearle is not a licensed optometrist in California.

REAPING A FORTUNE
VSP, LensCrafters Among "100 Best Companies"

Both Vision Service Plan (VSP) and LensCrafters have made Fortune magazine's list of "100 Best Companies to Work for."

VSP, ranked #25, was described thus:

• $1.58 billion in revenues for the past year
• Programmer Analyst III ($54,516) is most common entry-level professional position.
• Customer Service Representative I ($23,517) is most common production entry-level job.

Fortune goes on to say, "The annual profit-sharing bonus . . . equals about 15% of an employee's salary. There's also a holiday bonus (1 week's salary) . . . "

LensCrafter's (ranked #56) statistics were:

• Associate Optometrist ($60,500) most common profess-ional entry-level position.
• Lab Technician ($16,500) most common entry-level production position at LensCrafters.

Allergan to Create Spin-Off Business

By mid-2002, Allergan plans to spin off its ophthalmic surgical and contact lens care businesses to create an independent, public company called Advanced Medical Optics. Thereafter, Allergan will specialize in ophthalmic, dermatological and neuromuscular/neurotoxin pharmaceuticals.

FDA APPROVES PAREMYD

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given Akorn approval to start marketing hydroxyamphetamine hydrobromide 1% and tropicide 0.25% (Paremyd). The product is a topical mydriatic/cycloplegic combination the company acquired from Allergan in 1997.

Akorn expects to launch the drug this month. It's indicated for pupil dilation in routine ophthalmic diagnostic procedures and in eye exams, and it provides short-lasting dilation, sparing patients the dilation-reversal step. Akorn is the only manufacturer.