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Home > Archive > Lasik Eyes Surgery > December 2004 > University Partners with Industry to Assist Patients Injured by LASIK
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University Partners with Industry to Assist Patients Injured by LASIK
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| Brent Hanson - LASIKFRAUD.COM 2004-12-16, 9:25 am |
| Wendy Lyons Sunshine
Special To Houston Business Journal
In the hopes of tossing away their glasses and contact lenses forever,
nearly 3 million people have flocked to have LASIK and other
vision-correcting procedures done since they first became available in the
mid-1990s. Last year alone, over 700,000 people in the United States
underwent LASIK says David Harmon, president of Market Scope, a refractive
industry tracking newsletter.
While the majority of patients report a positive outcome and say they would
choose LASIK again, U.S. Food and Drug Administration experts admit that up
to 10 percent of patients come away from the surgery with less than
satisfying results. Complications range from glare and star-bursting to
profoundly fluctuating vision, multiple images, and lack of depth
perception.
Working directly with both patients and the industry, the university of
Houston's college of Optometry has become a key player in the nationwide
effort to bring relief to these injured patients. A self-supporting research
arm of the school, the Texas Eye Research and Technology Center now garners
nearly a quarter of a million dollars a year for eye-related studies. Among
those studies are research into rehabilitation for poor laser surgery
results, and data collection for FDA approval of post-LASIK contact lenses.
Refractive surgeries such as LASIK - laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis -
reshape the cornea to improve the focusing mechanism.
A normal eye is steepest at the center of the cornea, but refractive
surgeries tend to flatten the center. After unsuccessful LASIK, contact
lenses are frequently the best option, according to Jan Bergmanson, O.D.,
Ph.D., a professor at the college of Optometry and founder of TERTC.
"The surgically altered cornea has a different shape than a normal cornea,"
he says. "These patients almost invariably need gas-permeable, rigid
lenses."
The stable shape of these hard lenses can mimic a normal contour for
disrupted corneal surfaces, stabilizing and improving vision as a result.
The difficulty, however, lies in finding a suitable lens design.
Post-surgical patients have unique vision aberrations and tissue conditions
that make treatment a challenge.
"If you put a standard contact lens on a surgically altered cornea, it's not
going to fit very well," Bergmanson says.
He also notes that, following LASIK, a condition called "dry eyes" typically
occurs due to disrupted eye lubrication nerves.
"We use some of the most recent materials that have the most favorable
wetting angle and the most favorable oxygen transmission," he says. "I'm a
big believer that a contact lens should have an ultraviolet radiation
blocker, a filter formulated into the lens material."
The goal is to make the patients' eyes as comfortable as possible.
The steady stream of patients seeking treatment at the college's University
Eye Institute helps fuel TERTC research. Bergmanson, who launched TERTC at
the university of Houston in 1996, says that one study conducted with
post-LASIK
patients revealed the limitations of the eye chart for identifying poor
vision quality.
"People who came to see us had vision good enough to drive a car, but there
were quality issues. They had shadowing and duplication of vision," he says.
Many of these patients were since treated successfully with contact lenses.
Currently in the planning stages at the research center are tests of an
innovative contact lens design by Austin-based manufacturer, MetroOptics.
These tests will gather data about the firm's specialized reverse geometry,
rigid gas permeable lenses as part of the FDA approval process. Already
prescribed to post-LASIK patients by doctors, these lenses now need FDA
approval to be marketed for that specific indication. TERTC's findings will
play an important role in the FDA's evaluation.
At the university Eye Institute, about six to 10 patients each month are
fitted with custom contact lenses specially designed for their
surgically-altered corneas.
Norman Leach, O.D., chief of the Cornea and Contact Lens Service, says, "We
have a considerable bank of diagnostic lenses of different designs."
This allows doctors to demonstrate the potential for improved vision during
a patient's first visit.
Some patients return for ongoing follow-up at the university, others return
to their own local optometrists - as far away as San Antonio and College
Station - who don't have the expertise to do initial fittings.
"We work out the fit, design, and power of the lenses, and when all that is
done, we send the lenses to the local doctors to save the patient a trip,"
says Leach.
The university Eye Institute has a variety of fee reductions available to
qualified patients, including a 30 percent discount for same-day payment.
"It's very cost-effective for a patient to come here," says Bergmanson.
"We're one of the best-kept secrets in Texas."
Wendy Lyons Sunshine is an Arlington-based freelance writer.
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...tml?t=printable
| |
|
| This is an interesting post. Wendy Lyons Sunshine is indeed a
freelance writer. What she did years ago is write a very negative
article about LASIK which is filled with garbage. She keeps selling
this article to any publication that will buy it from her. Basically,
she wrote a bit of over-the-top scandalous fiction that would interest
the reader and is selling fear.
Incidentally, she wasn't always a freelance writer. She used to work
for a small newspaper. She had that article published, and then about
a year later, she submitted the same article to the same paper.
"Someone" pointed out to the editor of that publication that the
author had submitted the same exact story twice. The editor was not
amused and Ms. Sunshine's employment was terminated.
On Sat, 11 Dec 2004 16:19:55 -0800, "Brent Hanson - LASIKFRAUD.COM"
<brent@nospam_lasikfraud.com> wrote:
>Wendy Lyons Sunshine
>Special To Houston Business Journal
>
>In the hopes of tossing away their glasses and contact lenses forever,
>nearly 3 million people have flocked to have LASIK and other
>vision-correcting procedures done since they first became available in the
>mid-1990s. Last year alone, over 700,000 people in the United States
>underwent LASIK says David Harmon, president of Market Scope, a refractive
>industry tracking newsletter.
>
>While the majority of patients report a positive outcome and say they would
>choose LASIK again, U.S. Food and Drug Administration experts admit that up
>to 10 percent of patients come away from the surgery with less than
>satisfying results. Complications range from glare and star-bursting to
>profoundly fluctuating vision, multiple images, and lack of depth
>perception.
>
>Working directly with both patients and the industry, the university of
>Houston's college of Optometry has become a key player in the nationwide
>effort to bring relief to these injured patients. A self-supporting research
>arm of the school, the Texas Eye Research and Technology Center now garners
>nearly a quarter of a million dollars a year for eye-related studies. Among
>those studies are research into rehabilitation for poor laser surgery
>results, and data collection for FDA approval of post-LASIK contact lenses.
>
>Refractive surgeries such as LASIK - laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis -
>reshape the cornea to improve the focusing mechanism.
>
>A normal eye is steepest at the center of the cornea, but refractive
>surgeries tend to flatten the center. After unsuccessful LASIK, contact
>lenses are frequently the best option, according to Jan Bergmanson, O.D.,
>Ph.D., a professor at the college of Optometry and founder of TERTC.
>
>"The surgically altered cornea has a different shape than a normal cornea,"
>he says. "These patients almost invariably need gas-permeable, rigid
>lenses."
>
>The stable shape of these hard lenses can mimic a normal contour for
>disrupted corneal surfaces, stabilizing and improving vision as a result.
>The difficulty, however, lies in finding a suitable lens design.
>Post-surgical patients have unique vision aberrations and tissue conditions
>that make treatment a challenge.
>
>"If you put a standard contact lens on a surgically altered cornea, it's not
>going to fit very well," Bergmanson says.
>
>He also notes that, following LASIK, a condition called "dry eyes" typically
>occurs due to disrupted eye lubrication nerves.
>
>"We use some of the most recent materials that have the most favorable
>wetting angle and the most favorable oxygen transmission," he says. "I'm a
>big believer that a contact lens should have an ultraviolet radiation
>blocker, a filter formulated into the lens material."
>
>The goal is to make the patients' eyes as comfortable as possible.
>
>The steady stream of patients seeking treatment at the college's University
>Eye Institute helps fuel TERTC research. Bergmanson, who launched TERTC at
>the university of Houston in 1996, says that one study conducted with
>post-LASIK
>
>patients revealed the limitations of the eye chart for identifying poor
>vision quality.
>"People who came to see us had vision good enough to drive a car, but there
>were quality issues. They had shadowing and duplication of vision," he says.
>
>Many of these patients were since treated successfully with contact lenses.
>
>Currently in the planning stages at the research center are tests of an
>innovative contact lens design by Austin-based manufacturer, MetroOptics.
>These tests will gather data about the firm's specialized reverse geometry,
>rigid gas permeable lenses as part of the FDA approval process. Already
>prescribed to post-LASIK patients by doctors, these lenses now need FDA
>approval to be marketed for that specific indication. TERTC's findings will
>play an important role in the FDA's evaluation.
>
>At the university Eye Institute, about six to 10 patients each month are
>fitted with custom contact lenses specially designed for their
>surgically-altered corneas.
>
>Norman Leach, O.D., chief of the Cornea and Contact Lens Service, says, "We
>have a considerable bank of diagnostic lenses of different designs."
>
>This allows doctors to demonstrate the potential for improved vision during
>a patient's first visit.
>
>Some patients return for ongoing follow-up at the university, others return
>to their own local optometrists - as far away as San Antonio and College
>Station - who don't have the expertise to do initial fittings.
>
>"We work out the fit, design, and power of the lenses, and when all that is
>done, we send the lenses to the local doctors to save the patient a trip,"
>says Leach.
>
>The university Eye Institute has a variety of fee reductions available to
>qualified patients, including a 30 percent discount for same-day payment.
>
>"It's very cost-effective for a patient to come here," says Bergmanson.
>"We're one of the best-kept secrets in Texas."
>
>Wendy Lyons Sunshine is an Arlington-based freelance writer.
>
>http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...tml?t=printable
>
| |
| Glenn - USAEyes.org 2004-12-18, 7:12 pm |
| It was also found that Ms. Sunshine's statements regarding our
organization in an article she wrote for a San Francisco bay area
weekly were false and/or misleading, requiring the online version of
the article to be significantly edited and a public retraction to be
published by the paper.
Glenn Hagele
Executive Director
Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance
Email to glenn dot hagele at usaeyes dot org
http://www.USAEyes.org
http://www.ComplicatedEyes.org
I am not a doctor.
| |
| Brent Hanson - LASIKFRAUD.COM 2004-12-18, 7:12 pm |
| Nope.
"Glenn - USAEyes.org" <glenn.hageleSTOPSPAM@USAEyes.org> wrote in message
news:h2s8s0povilfrks78qj27qf2uv4fike6o3@4ax.com...
It was also found that Ms. Sunshine's statements regarding our
organization in an article she wrote for a San Francisco bay area
weekly were false and/or misleading, requiring the online version of
the article to be significantly edited and a public retraction to be
published by the paper.
Glenn Hagele
Executive Director
Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance
Email to glenn dot hagele at usaeyes dot org
http://www.USAEyes.org
http://www.ComplicatedEyes.org
I am not a doctor.
| |
| Brent Hanson - LASIKFRAUD.COM 2004-12-18, 7:12 pm |
| Nope.
"RM" <rm@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4tn8s0lql5afsda6p0d21e9ial5puo6eqv@4ax.com...
This is an interesting post. Wendy Lyons Sunshine is indeed a
freelance writer. What she did years ago is write a very negative
article about LASIK which is filled with garbage. She keeps selling
this article to any publication that will buy it from her. Basically,
she wrote a bit of over-the-top scandalous fiction that would interest
the reader and is selling fear.
Incidentally, she wasn't always a freelance writer. She used to work
for a small newspaper. She had that article published, and then about
a year later, she submitted the same article to the same paper.
"Someone" pointed out to the editor of that publication that the
author had submitted the same exact story twice. The editor was not
amused and Ms. Sunshine's employment was terminated.
On Sat, 11 Dec 2004 16:19:55 -0800, "Brent Hanson - LASIKFRAUD.COM"
<brent@nospam_lasikfraud.com> wrote:
>Wendy Lyons Sunshine
>Special To Houston Business Journal
>
>In the hopes of tossing away their glasses and contact lenses forever,
>nearly 3 million people have flocked to have LASIK and other
>vision-correcting procedures done since they first became available in the
>mid-1990s. Last year alone, over 700,000 people in the United States
>underwent LASIK says David Harmon, president of Market Scope, a refractive
>industry tracking newsletter.
>
>While the majority of patients report a positive outcome and say they would
>choose LASIK again, U.S. Food and Drug Administration experts admit that up
>to 10 percent of patients come away from the surgery with less than
>satisfying results. Complications range from glare and star-bursting to
>profoundly fluctuating vision, multiple images, and lack of depth
>perception.
>
>Working directly with both patients and the industry, the university of
>Houston's college of Optometry has become a key player in the nationwide
>effort to bring relief to these injured patients. A self-supporting
research
>arm of the school, the Texas Eye Research and Technology Center now garners
>nearly a quarter of a million dollars a year for eye-related studies. Among
>those studies are research into rehabilitation for poor laser surgery
>results, and data collection for FDA approval of post-LASIK contact lenses.
>
>Refractive surgeries such as LASIK - laser-assisted in situ
keratomileusis -
>reshape the cornea to improve the focusing mechanism.
>
>A normal eye is steepest at the center of the cornea, but refractive
>surgeries tend to flatten the center. After unsuccessful LASIK, contact
>lenses are frequently the best option, according to Jan Bergmanson, O.D.,
>Ph.D., a professor at the college of Optometry and founder of TERTC.
>
>"The surgically altered cornea has a different shape than a normal cornea,"
>he says. "These patients almost invariably need gas-permeable, rigid
>lenses."
>
>The stable shape of these hard lenses can mimic a normal contour for
>disrupted corneal surfaces, stabilizing and improving vision as a result.
>The difficulty, however, lies in finding a suitable lens design.
>Post-surgical patients have unique vision aberrations and tissue conditions
>that make treatment a challenge.
>
>"If you put a standard contact lens on a surgically altered cornea, it's
not
>going to fit very well," Bergmanson says.
>
>He also notes that, following LASIK, a condition called "dry eyes"
typically
>occurs due to disrupted eye lubrication nerves.
>
>"We use some of the most recent materials that have the most favorable
>wetting angle and the most favorable oxygen transmission," he says. "I'm a
>big believer that a contact lens should have an ultraviolet radiation
>blocker, a filter formulated into the lens material."
>
>The goal is to make the patients' eyes as comfortable as possible.
>
>The steady stream of patients seeking treatment at the college's University
>Eye Institute helps fuel TERTC research. Bergmanson, who launched TERTC at
>the university of Houston in 1996, says that one study conducted with
>post-LASIK
>
>patients revealed the limitations of the eye chart for identifying poor
>vision quality.
>"People who came to see us had vision good enough to drive a car, but there
>were quality issues. They had shadowing and duplication of vision," he
says.
>
>Many of these patients were since treated successfully with contact lenses.
>
>Currently in the planning stages at the research center are tests of an
>innovative contact lens design by Austin-based manufacturer, MetroOptics.
>These tests will gather data about the firm's specialized reverse geometry,
>rigid gas permeable lenses as part of the FDA approval process. Already
>prescribed to post-LASIK patients by doctors, these lenses now need FDA
>approval to be marketed for that specific indication. TERTC's findings will
>play an important role in the FDA's evaluation.
>
>At the university Eye Institute, about six to 10 patients each month are
>fitted with custom contact lenses specially designed for their
>surgically-altered corneas.
>
>Norman Leach, O.D., chief of the Cornea and Contact Lens Service, says, "We
>have a considerable bank of diagnostic lenses of different designs."
>
>This allows doctors to demonstrate the potential for improved vision during
>a patient's first visit.
>
>Some patients return for ongoing follow-up at the university, others return
>to their own local optometrists - as far away as San Antonio and College
>Station - who don't have the expertise to do initial fittings.
>
>"We work out the fit, design, and power of the lenses, and when all that is
>done, we send the lenses to the local doctors to save the patient a trip,"
>says Leach.
>
>The university Eye Institute has a variety of fee reductions available to
>qualified patients, including a 30 percent discount for same-day payment.
>
>"It's very cost-effective for a patient to come here," says Bergmanson.
>"We're one of the best-kept secrets in Texas."
>
>Wendy Lyons Sunshine is an Arlington-based freelance writer.
>
>http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/....html?t=printab
le
>
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