Subconjunctival injections of bevacizumab induced regression of recent-onset corneal neovascularization, according to a study.The double-masked, placebo-controlled clinical trial included 30 patients with corneal neovascularization attributed to variou…
Author: Healio ophthalmology
Novartis reports higher net income in 2012
Novartis reported a net income of $9.62 billion in 2012, up from $9.25 billion in 2011, an increase of 4%, according to a company news release.The company’s Alcon division had net sales of $10.23 billion in 2012, a 3% increase from $9.96 billion in 2011.
OCT imaging enables creation of RNFL, macular thickness norms for children
Optical coherence tomography images were used to generate measurement standards for macular thickness, peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and retinal layer thickness in children, according to a study.The prospective study included 83 hea…
Merck reports increase in yearly net income
Merck reported an increase in net income from $6.27 billion in 2011 to $6.66 billion in 2012, an increase of 6%, according to a company news release.In the fourth quarter of 2012, net income was $1.44 billion, down from $1.51 billion in the same quarte…
BLOG: The value of educational meetings
I’ve just returned from the Hawaiian Eye meeting, an 18-hour door-to-door trek. As I unpack and organize for tomorrow’s return to ordinary work, still bleary, I ask myself, “Was the trip worth it?” For the third year in a row, the answer is, “Yes!”At Hawaiian Eye, the intimate size (less than a tenth the size of the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting) and proximity of the physician, administrative and allied health lecture halls encourage a blending of attendees that is not present at larger meetings.
Annual net earnings at Allergan up in 2012
Allergan reported net earnings of $1.1 billion in 2012, up from $934.5 million in 2011, according to a company news release.For the 3 months ended Dec. 31, the company reported net earnings of $324.2 million, up from $279.8 million in the same quarter …
Annual net earnings at Allergan up in 2012
Allergan reported net earnings of $1.1 billion in 2012, up from $934.5 million in 2011, according to a company news release.For the 3 months ended Dec. 31, the company reported net earnings of $324.2 million, up from $279.8 million in the same quarter …
BLOG: Let the sun shine down – CMS releases final reporting requirements for manufacturers and GPOs
On Feb. 1, 2013, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its long-awaited final rule regarding the implementation of the physician payment sunshine provisions of the Affordable Care Act. The final rule does not create any new prohibitions on payments to physicians and teaching hospitals, but rather sets out new dates and requirements for manufacturers and other entities to collect data about their payments to physicians and other “covered recipients” and submit that information to CMS. Applicable manufacturers and group purchasing organizations (GPOs) must begin to collect this (Read more...)
Gamma Knife radiosurgery controls local tumors in choroidal melanoma
Gamma Knife radiosurgery for choroidal melanoma yielded visual outcomes similar to those of linear accelerator-based fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy, according to a study.The retrospective study included 177 patients with choroidal melanoma who …
Glaukos raises $30 million to fund iStent launch in US, further studies
Glaukos closed $30 million in Series F financing to pay for the commercial launch of the iStent trabecular micro-bypass device in the United States, according to a company news release.
PDT monotherapy effective in eyes with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy
Reduced-fluence photodynamic therapy monotherapy maintained or improved visual acuity in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy patients for 24 months, according to a study.The prospective interventional case series included 38 eyes of 38 patients who under…
BLOG: Raising your awareness of your interactions with lay staff
Doctors often ask me, “How tough should I be with my staff?” Consider America’s marsupial, the humble opossum. Biologists know that “playing possum” is not some coy act. The animals actually pass out from sheer terror. Do your staff members look similarly dazed when you approach them? Or, at the other end of the spectrum, are you ophthalmology’s Rodney Dangerfield, so meek that you get no respect?
Anterior segment OCT assesses conjunctivochalasis progression with age
Anterior segment optical coherence tomography was effective in evaluating the prevalence and severity of conjunctivochalasis according to age, a study found.The prospective clinical trial included 60 eyes of 30 healthy subjects ranging in age from 24 t…
Single-piece IOL posterior to iris increases anterior chamber depth
A single-piece IOL positioned posterior to the iris resulted in markedly greater anterior chamber depth than a three-piece implant, according to a study.
Enhanced depth imaging shows choroidal thinning in retinitis pigmentosa
Enhanced depth imaging with spectral domain optical coherence tomography provided in vivo evidence of reduced submacular choroidal thickness in retinitis pigmentosa patients, according to a study.
Alcon launches hardware and software upgrades for Infiniti
Alcon has announced hardware and software upgrades for its Infiniti Vision System to provide more control during cataract surgery, according to a press release.
CMS issues final rule on Physician Payment Sunshine Act
CMS recently announced in a press release its final rule on the National Physician Payment Transparency Program: Open Payments, also known as the Sunshine Act, aimed to increase transparency among physicians, drug and device manufacturers and health care providers. As part of the Affordable Care Act, the rule calls for manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program to disclose payments made to doctors and teaching hospitals to CMS. According to the release, these manufacturers and group purchasing organizations must also (Read more...)
CMS issues final rule on Physician Payment Sunshine Act
CMS recently announced in a press release its final rule on the National Physician Payment Transparency Program: Open Payments, also known as the Sunshine Act, aimed to increase transparency among physicians, drug and device manufacturers and health care providers. As part of the Affordable Care Act, the rule calls for manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program to disclose payments made to doctors and teaching hospitals to CMS. According to the release, these manufacturers and group purchasing organizations must also (Read more...)
Speaker: Near future holds promise for treating patients with glaucoma
SAN FRANCISCO — With research advances being made in underlying pathogenesis, diagnosis, microincision devices, medications and medication-delivery vehicles, 2013 holds great promise for treating patients with glaucoma, according to a speaker here. Louis B. Cantor, MD, in the keynote address at the New Horizons Forum during the Glaucoma 360 meeting, asked the question, “Is ’13 our lucky number?”
IOP increase minor in femtosecond cataract surgery using fluid interface
Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery using a fluid-filled interface resulted in a slight increase in IOP, according to a study. “This is in strong contrast to substantially higher values reported in the literature with flat and curved applanating contact interfaces,” the study authors said.