The AMA voted to implement new policies that will improve and protect the health of immigrants and refugees seeking safe haven in the United States, according to a recent press release. Physicians from across the globe approved of these new policies as they gathered this week at AMA’s Annual Meeting. “The millions of refugees who have sought shelter in the United States need greater availability and access to health care insurance as these groups are typically at a higher risk for chronic conditions,” AMA President Andrew W. Gurman, MD, (Read more...)
Author: Healio ophthalmology
AMA, AHA, ADA, others join forces to protect patient access to health care
Disclosure: Healio Family Medicine was unable to determine relevant financial disclosures prior to publication.
Oncologist chosen as American Medical Association’s president-elect
Barbara L. McAneny, MD, an oncologist in New Mexico, has been chosen president-elect of the AMA.McAneny — who will assume the association’s presidency in June 2018 — is co-founder and CEO of New Mexico Oncology Hematology Consultants Ltd., a multidisciplinary oncology practice. She also manages New Mexico Cancer Center, which provides outpatient medical and radiation oncology care and imaging in rural areas across New Mexico.
VIDEO: Some patients with diabetes at high risk for edema after cataract surgery
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. ― At Kiawah Eye 2017, Jake McMillan, MD, a resident at the Storm Eye Institute at MUSC, discusses his presentation that showed that patients with diabetes who were on insulin or had moderate to severe nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy were at a relatively high risk for developing edema after cataract surgery.
VIDEO: Some patients with diabetes at high risk for edema after cataract surgery
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. ― At Kiawah Eye 2017, Jake McMillan, MD, a resident at the Storm Eye Institute at MUSC, discusses his presentation that showed that patients with diabetes who were on insulin or had moderate to severe nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy were at a relatively high risk for developing edema after cataract surgery.
Durasert for posterior segment uveitis meets primary efficacy endpoint in phase 3 trial
Durasert, a 3-year treatment for posterior segment uveitis, achieved its primary efficacy endpoint in a second phase 3 trial, pSivida announced in a press release.The insert significantly reduced the recurrence of posterior segment uveitis in patients …
Durasert for posterior segment uveitis meets primary efficacy endpoint in phase 3 trial
Durasert, a 3-year treatment for posterior segment uveitis, achieved its primary efficacy endpoint in a second phase 3 trial, pSivida announced in a press release.The insert significantly reduced the recurrence of posterior segment uveitis in patients …
Inotek reports $10.7 million first-quarter net loss
Inotek Pharmaceuticals reported a $10.7 million net loss in the first quarter of 2017 compared with a $10.1 million net loss in 2016’s first quarter, according to a press release.Research and development costs decreased from $7.6 million in the first quarter of 2016 to $7.1 million, whereas general and administrative costs increased from $2.5 million to $2.9 million.
PUBLICATION EXCLUSIVE: Private equity offers new option for ophthalmology practice consolidation
Ophthalmologists and ophthalmology practices are steering toward consolidation in a fragmented market, and private equity firms may offer a new option for physicians as the firms look to invest in the field.Private equity firms, investment management companies that make investments in operating companies or startup companies, have been focusing their attention more on the ophthalmology field over the last several years. For example, in May 2014, Varsity Healthcare Partners, a health care services-focused private equity investment firm, acquired Katzen Eye Group, one of the nation’s largest ophthalmologic and optometric services (Read more...)
Supreme Court ruling accelerates availability of biosimilars
The Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling today that will accelerate the pace at which biosimilars can be made available to the public.The court ruled biosimilar manufacturers do not need to wait an extra 6 months after FDA approval to market their agents, provided the standard exclusivity period for the biosimilar’s reference product has expired.
VIDEO: Software integrates with EMR to assist in patient education and follow-up care
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. ― At Kiawah Eye 2017, John A. Hovanesian, MD, FACS, discusses how his practice uses MDbackline software, which is integrated with the EMR system to electronically follow up with patients after an office visit or surgery to help proactively educate them or answer questions they may have concerning a diagnosis or procedure.
Cataract surgery technique addresses challenges of Stevens-Johnson syndrome
A modified surgical technique has been developed to treat cataract patients with Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a disease characterized by blistering of the skin and mucous membranes.The modified technique, published in the Journal of Cataract and Refractiv…
PCO treatment would disrupt cataract surgery
The No. 1 unmet need in cataract surgery today is a safe and effective method to prevent posterior capsular opacity. Our inability to conquer the biology of the lens capsule and subcapsular epithelium after cataract surgery, which includes epithelial c…
Equalize pressure gradient to maintain control during removal of intumescent cataract
There are many challenges associated with phacoemulsification of intumescent white cataracts: The opaque lens material blocks the red reflex and hinders visualization of the capsule, the nuclear material may be quite dense, and there is a tendency for the capsulorrhexis to become errant, which can result in complications such as vitreous prolapse.Using trypan blue dye, we can stain the anterior lens capsule to aid in visualization during capsulorrhexis creation. With phaco power modulations and variants of the phaco chop technique, we can safely remove even dense nuclei while limiting the (Read more...)
Time is ripe to rethink posterior optic capture techniques
Techniques that place the IOL optic in Berger’s space after primary posterior capsulotomy have been around for some time. Surgeons who researched and pioneered these procedures called them by different names and proposed personal variations, but they all came to the same conclusion: This way of placing the lens creates a formidable barrier against posterior capsule opacification while maintaining the anterior hyaloid and vitreous intact.“I have a vision of this approach taking off eventually and becoming standard just for everyone,” Lisa B. Arbisser, MD, said. “And I have a mission (Read more...)
The state of dry eye care, part 1
Back in the Dark Ages, you know, like 1999 or so, dry eye disease was considered the crabgrass that grows on the lawn of eye care. Ophthalmology especially.My tiny tribe of DED pilgrims were looked upon with pity, if we were looked upon at all. Perfectly good dry eye medications were ignored and/or abandoned, even if they had an on-label indication to treat an established dry eye sign or symptom — ahem, Lotemax (loteprednol etabonate, Bausch + Lomb). The near universal opinion in the eye care community was that there (Read more...)
Could femtosecond laser technology encourage more cataract surgeons to perform primary posterior capsulotomy and optic capture?
PointYes, as far as primary posterior laser capsulotomy (PPLC) is concerned. By doing femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery with standard in-the-bag implantation, 3-D spectral-domain OCT has shown us how wide Berger’s space is after cataract surgery. First, because there is fluid movement through the zonules behind the posterior capsule, balanced salt solution and fluid are turning all round. Second, because the patient is in the supine position, gravitation and partially liquefied vitreous widen the space. Third, because the crystalline lens is removed and even with an IOL in place, there is (Read more...)
Young woman who went blind in one eye presents years later with symptoms in fellow eye
A 21-year-old Hispanic woman presented to the University of New Mexico with a 1-month history of worsening flashes of light and scotomas in her left superior field of vision.Regarding her medical and ocular history, the patient had previously been diagnosed with a “generalized vasculitis.” When she was 14 years old, she developed joint pain in her wrists, ankles and knees. Within a week of the onset of the arthralgias, she also lost vision in the right eye and has since only seen bare light perception in that eye. She was (Read more...)
Debate continues over immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery
Welcome to another edition of CEDARS/ASPENS Debates. CEDARS/ASPENS is a joint society of cornea, cataract and refractive surgery specialists, here to discuss some of the latest hot topics in ophthalmology.One topic that is gaining interest but always s…
EyeGate reports $2.9 million quarterly loss
EyeGate Pharmaceuticals reported a net loss of $2.9 million in the first quarter of 2017 compared with a net loss of $2.4 million in the same quarter of 2016. Revenue was $0.19 million for the quarter, and research and development costs were $1.8 million compared with no revenue in 2016’s first quarter and research and development costs of $0.9 million, according to a company press release.