Age-related macular degeneration, characterized by the loss of central vision, affects 1.65 million individuals in the United States and is the leading cause of vision loss in people older than 65 years, according to Friends for Sight, a nonprofit orga…
Author: Healio ophthalmology
Eyenovia completes $27.3 million initial public offering
Eyenovia has closed its initial public offering of 2.73 million shares of its common stock, according to a press release.
Gross proceeds from the offering, before underwriting discounts and commissions, were $27.3 million. The company has granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 409,500 additional shares.
Eyenovia is developing ophthalmology products with its piezo-print technology to topically deliver microtherapeutics to the eye.
Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., a subsidiary of Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services, and Roth Capital partners were joint book-running managers for the
Q&A: Philadelphia supports safe injection sites to fight opioid crisis
John F. Kelly Lawrence GreenblattAccording to the CDC, drug overdose deaths and opioid-related deaths continue to grow at an alarming rate in the United States, with an average of 115 Americans who die from opioid overdose every day.Overall, more than …
SightLife Surgical partners with Lions Eye Bank of Texas
SightLife Surgical and the Lions Eye Bank of Texas at Baylor College of Medicine are partnering to process and distribute corneal tissue, according to a press release.
SightLife will process the tissue recovered by the Lions Eye Bank of Texas (LEBT) and distribute it, allowing local surgeons access to a larger donor pool of tissue, the release said. SightLife will also provide training opportunities and products to corneal surgeons.
“SightLife Surgical is proud to have been invited to partner with LEBT. This relationship will help the local community and supports (Read more...)
VIDEO: How to stay relevant in a quickly changing landscape
WAILEA, Hawaii — At Hawaiian Eye 2018, Heather Ready, senior marketing manager at Johnson & Johnson Vision, discusses how administrators can stay relevant in an environment that is quickly changing and growing.
Cataract, refractive error remain leading causes of global blindness
Cataract was the leading cause of blindness in people of all ages worldwide in 2015, according to a study.A systematic review and meta-analysis of 288 studies from 98 countries aimed to evaluate the causes of blindness and visual impairment.Of the 36 m…
VIDEO: SightLife Surgical adds Intacs to portfolio
WAILEA, Hawaii — At Hawaiian Eye 2018, Monty Montoya, CEO of SightLife Surgical, discusses the addition of the Intacs product for keratoconus into the company’s portfolio of cornea products.
Cornea Society announces Castroviejo Medal award winner
Alan Sugar, MD, professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Michigan’s Kellogg Eye Center, has been awarded the Cornea Society’s Castroviejo Medal, according to a press release.
The Castroviejo Medal, the society’s highest honor, is given each year to a member of the ophthalmic community who has made significant contributions to the field of cornea and anterior segment surgery.
Sugar is involved in research on corneal transplantations, genetic features of Fuchs’ dystrophy and new dry eye treatments. He also works with the Eye Bank Association of
ReVision Optics goes out of business
ReVision Optics, maker of the Raindrop near vision inlay, has folded, according to an announcement on the company’s website.
“It is with regret that we have to close our doors,” the announcement reads. “The Raindrop inlay will not be sold to ophthalmic practices or distributors as of Tuesday, January 30, 2018.”
The FDA approved the Raindrop inlay in June 2016, making it the second implantable corneal device for the correction of near vision in patients who have not had cataract surgery, and the first device to change the shape of (Read more...)
InFocus invests in Qura’s QSmart technology
Qura, the creator of QSmart implantable technology that monitors IOP in glaucoma patients, has received Series A funding from InFocus Capital Partners to advance the technology toward commercialization.”Qura has developed and licensed patented propriet…
ACP supports CHIP renewal, but says Congress’ work is not finished
While the most recent continuing resolution passed by the Senate and House included funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, and its 8.9 million enrollees until 2023, other health care programs remain at risk until a final resolution of the budget standoff.
ACP expressed relief that Congress passed this resolution that terminated the federal government shutdown, noting that CHIP, along with Medicaid, is a high-quality, cost-effective coverage option that has reduced the number of uninsured children by 68%.
But Congress’ work is far from over, according to ACP.
VIDEO: Understand inflammatory cascade to better treat dry eye
WAILEA, Hawaii — At Hawaiian Eye 2018, Lisa Nijm, MD, JD, discusses the pathophysiology of dry eye disease, which she says is necessary to better treat patients with dry eye.
Fitzgerald resigns as CDC director over ‘complex’ financial conflicts
Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, resigned as CDC director after spending less than 7 months in the position because of financial conflicts, including shares in a tobacco company, that HHS said were “limiting her ability” to do her job.New HHS secretary Alex Azar…
Fitzgerald resigns as CDC director over ‘complex’ financial conflicts
Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, resigned as CDC director after spending less than 7 months in the position because of financial conflicts, including shares in a tobacco company, that HHS said were “limiting her ability” to do her job.
New HHS secretary Alex Azar II accepted Fitzgerald’s resignation this morning, a department spokesman said.
An OB/GYN, Fitzgerald led the Georgia Department of Public Health for 6 years before being named CDC director last July. She replaced Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, who stepped down after a nearly 8-year tenure when President Donald (Read more...)
First patient enrolled in Aldeyra dry eye phase 2b trial
The first patient has been enrolled in a phase 2b trial of topical ocular reproxalap for dry eye disease, according to a press release from Aldeyra Therapeutics.
Two concentrations of topical reproxalap, 0.1% and 0.25%, will be evaluated against vehicle over a 12-week treatment period in 300 patients with moderate dry eye disease.
Reproxalap is generated from the company’s aldehyde trap platform, and it sequesters and facilitates the degradation of pro-inflammatory aldehyde mediators, the release said.
Trial results are expected to be announced in the second half of the year.
The professional pleasures and succession perils of rural practice
“I think the extent to which I have any balance at all, any mental balance, is because of being a farm kid and being raised in those isolated rural areas.” – James Earl Jones
“Country things are the necessary root of our life — and that remains true even of a rootless and tragically urban civilization. To live permanently away from the country is a form of slow death.” – Esther Meynell
Of the 7,000 or so private, independent ophthalmology practices in America, a significant number are operated as solo (Read more...)
Surgical techniques vary for adult and pediatric Boston KPro
When conventional full-thickness penetrating keratoplasty or corneal transplantation has a high risk for graft failure, an artificial cornea may be the alternative choice in an attempt to visually rehabilitate the patient. An artificial cornea may be considered in patients with one or more failed penetrating keratoplasties. Other considerations include vision worse than 20/200 in the involved eye with contralateral compromised vision without end-stage glaucoma or retinal detachment. Based on the WHO’s 2010 global blindness data, it has been estimated that bilateral corneal blindness
SFT pupilloplasty has role in endothelial keratoplasty cases
Endothelial keratoplasty involves the supplantation of the endothelial cell layer along with Descemet’s membrane, which may or may not be supported with the layer of stroma in the donor graft.
An important consideration during an endothelial keratoplasty procedure is preventing and minimizing the loss of endothelial cells during the process of donor tissue preparation and also while inserting and repositioning the graft in the anterior chamber. Pupilloplasty is often performed to prevent the escape of air into the vitreous cavity, maintain the effective air tamponade in the anterior
Ophthalmologists serve important purpose after natural disasters
Through care or supplies, volunteering ophthalmologists can fill a crucial need for communities, residents and patients affected by natural disasters.
Ophthalmologists can provide important medical support to patients in the wake of a natural disaster and should consider volunteering their services either at home or abroad, Richard K. Lee, MD, PhD, of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, said.
“People often think, ‘Well, I’m an ophthalmologist, and here’s a situation where I can’t help.’ Everyone can help. In any disaster, as physicians, we really have an opportunity
Modern-day cataract surgery: Bad and boujee
For those premium cataract surgeons with a musical know-how, “Bad and Boujee” is a recent well-known hip-hop song by Migos and Lil Uzi Vert, known for the concept of “bad” meaning good-looking and “boujee” meaning stuck up, where pretty ladies were seen in regular environments such as wearing silk shirts on dirt bikes. So how does this concept translate to the modern-day cataract surgeon?
Bad and boujee can be related to the type of cataract being removed, from an early dysfunctional lens (boujee) to a mature cataract (bad) LOCS III (Read more...)