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TIPS, TRENDS & NEWS YOU CAN USE

ARRESTED WITH 1,100 LENSES
Texas Man Charged in Selling Contacts

Police arrested a 39-year-old man for selling contact lenses at a flea market in El Paso, Texas. According to a report filed by the El Paso Police Department, Jesus Flores-Enriquez was charged with selling prescription contact lenses, without a permit, to consumers who did not have prescriptions.

In an undercover investigation, detectives from the vice unit purchased lenses from Flores and ultimately confiscated more than 1,100 contact lenses. In Texas, the sale of prescription contact lenses without a permit constitutes a violation of Chapter 353 of the Occupations Code. The code also requires that contact lenses be dispensed only with a current valid prescription, a provision consistent with the federal "Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act," which was enacted in December 2003.

Flores faces up to 180 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $2,000 dollars. The contact lenses were confiscated from his booth at the Lower Valley Swap Meet. The police department also issued a reminder to the public, stating that "it is very dangerous to obtain any medical services or prescriptions from individuals not licensed by the state to conduct such business."

CONTACT LENS SOLUTION RECALLED
AMO Recalls 18 Lots of Complete MoisturePLUS

Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) announced a voluntary recall of 18 lots of its 12-ounce Complete MoisturePLUS multipurpose disinfecting solution and Active Packs after three lots sold in Japan were found to have bacterial contamination. The recalled lots distributed in the U.S. were manufactured on the same production lines during the same time period as the contaminated lots sold in Japan. AMO has not received any reports of adverse health events associated with the recalled product lots in the U.S. The recall includes approximately 183,000 units, representing less than 1% of the Complete MoisturePLUS contact lens products distributed in the U.S. on an annual basis.

Randy Meier, executive vice president, operations, president, global eye care and chief financial officer for the company said, "AMO is committed to taking all necessary measures to remedy this production-line issue and protect the trust physicians and patients place in our products."

The 4- and 16-ounce bottles, professional samples and packs provided to eyecare practitioners are not included in the recall. Patients who believe they are in possession of the recalled product should discontinue use immediately and call the company at 1-877-884-7779, or visit the company's Web site at http://www.amo-inc.com.

NEW GP MATERIAL
FDA Approves Paragon Z CRT

Paragon Vision Sciences officially launched the Paragon Z CRT following FDA approval for over-night corneal reshaping. The lenses are manufactured with Menicon Z, which the company says has a Dk value of 163, and Paragon HDS 100 materials. The Paragon CRT and Z CRT are available in powers up to -6.00D and astigmatism up to -1.75D. Paragon will begin accepting orders for its Diagnostic Dispensing system on Dec. 7 at the American Academy of Optometry meeting. Paragon certified practitioners can order the new lenses from authorized labs on Jan. 15, 2007.

TOY-RELATED INJURIES
PBA Wants Safer Holiday Season

Prevent Blindness America has declared December "Safe Toys and Gifts Month" and offers common sense suggestions for a safer holiday season:

• Avoid toys that shoot or include parts that fly off.

• Toys should be durable, with no sharp edges or points and be able to withstand impact.

• Look for "ASTM," which means the product meets the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards.

A MONTHLY MODALITY LENS
CooperVision Announces New Multifocal

CooperVision introduced the Proclear Multifocal Toric, the only multifocal toric available in a monthly modality. The lens allows long-time toric lens wearers who are developing presbyopia to continue wearing monthly soft contact lenses.

The new lens is manufactured with CooperVision's patented "PC Technology" to enhance the lens-wearing experience for astigmatic presbyopes, the company says.

As with the Proclear and Fre-quency Multifocal, the new toric utilizes the "Balanced Progressive Technology" design, a multifocal system that allows for independent adjustment of either distance sphere power or ADD power of a maxi-mum of +/- 0.50. The technology allows practitioners more control and flexibility when fitting because the lens can be independently adjusted to suit individual patient needs, even as their vision correction needs change, CooperVision says.

Proclear Multifocal Toric lenses are available in a sphere power range of +4.00D to -6.00D in 0.25D steps; ADD powers of +1.00D, +1.50D, +2.00D and +2.50D; cylinder powers of -0.75, -1.25, -1.75 and -2.25; two base curves of 8.4mm and 8.8mm; and an axis of 5Þ to 180Þ in 5Þ steps.

management tip of the month
Two reasons to delegate now
By Neil B. Gailmard, O.D., M.B.A., F.A.A.O.

Even if you feel your practice is not busy enough to delegate tasks, you should still delegate. Here's why:

1. You can compress your patient schedule into fewer days and create more time for management. This will pay dividends in building a busier practice. If you perform exams every hour over a four-day week, try seeing the same number of patients in two days. Devote the other days to management.

Now, you will see patients every half hour. You can accomplish this by hiring a technician and buying an automated instrument to use in pretesting; by equipping a second exam room, so staff can get the next patient ready; and by, in general, becoming more efficient.

On your management days, concentrate on staff training, marketing, community involvement, office procedures and technology, reading management books and a host of things you will see around your office.

2. You will immediately create the appearance of a busy and successful practice. Instead of seeing a slow office where the doctor does everything, your patients will see a busy, vital practice. That perception is worth a great deal. People refer others to places they believe are successful and well-run. And people judge your skills by what they see and understand.

There is a cost to making your practice appear successful, and you should not take that lightly. Do not take on more financial obligations than you can handle. But also realize that you must spend money to make money and that there is no better investment than your own practice.

This "Tip of the Month," was excerpted from the Optometric Tip of the Week e-newsletter. Both a free subscription to the newsletter and an unabridged version of this tip are available at www.optometric.com.

O.D. NOTEBOOK

■ VSP pledged $5 million to its Vision Loans, formerly Vision One Loans, which provides funds to private-practice eye doctors to purchase their first practice. Since its inception in 2003, VSP has issued loans totaling more than $13 million.

■ Carl Zeiss Vision has helped establish a new fellowship program with the American Optometric Foundation, the AOF Carl Zeiss Vision (CZV) Fellowship. The Fellowship presents one $5,000 award to a third-year student at each of the schools and colleges of optometry in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

■ Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW), the publisher of Optometric Management, has created HealthJobsPlus.com, an online career search tool developed specifically for healthcare professionals. The Website will serve over 225 specialties.

■ Bausch & Lomb named Christopher Snyder, O.D., M.S. director of professional relations for Lens Care/OTC products within the vision care business of the Americas Region.

■ ClearVision Optical's Mary Loehr was awarded the "Volunteer of the Year Award" from the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund.