OD Turns Out to Be a Jazz Recording Genius

Midwest Lens blog posted the following about an OD: 

The lush tones of Miles Davis are unmistakable to millions. It is common knowledge among jazz fans that Davis was heavily influenced by giants such as Charlie Parker and Coleman Hawkins. Yet, had it not been for a modified U47 microphone, and a family’s living room in Hackensack, New Jersey, we might not hear Davis as we do today.
In April of 1954, Davis recorded his legendary album “Walkin’” at a studio built in a living room in Hackensack. Davis previously recorded there just 2 years earlier, and was familiar with the engineer—Rudy Van Gelder. While working and researching with the Jazz Oral History Program at the museum, which aims to give comprehensive documentation of the experiences of senior jazz musicians, performers, relatives, and business associates, I found the story of Davis and Van Gelder’s collaboration particularly compelling. Part of my research included reading an interview with Van Gelder on the National Endowment for the Arts website, where he was interviewed as part of his lifetime award of being named “Jazz Master” in 2009. I was quickly taken with Van Gelder and his remarkable story, and wanted to know more.

How to Maintain Cornea Clarity May Have Been Found

"A transparent cornea is essential for vision, which is why the eye has evolved to nourish the cornea without blood vessels. But for millions of people around the world, diseases of the eye or trauma spur the growth of blood vessels and can cause blindness," says Medical News Today. "A new Northwestern Medicine study has identified a gene that plays a major role in maintaining clarity of the cornea in humans and mice - and could possibly be used as gene therapy to treat diseases that cause blindness. The paper is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." Read more.

Causes Found for Dry Eye

"Wearing contact lenses in an office environment and spending more than 4 hours at a visual display terminal may result in lower tear meniscus volume with significant dry eye, a study found." So goes the post on PConSupersite. "The prospective, case-control analysis examined 69 contact lens wearers — 45 women and 24 men, mean age 35.2 ± 7.3 years — and 102 non-wearers matched for sex and age — 66 women and 36 men, mean age 36.7 ± 7.3 years — from the same office in Japan." Read more.

Cavalli to Relaunch Sunwear Line

According to WWD, the Italian brand Roberto Cavalli will relaunching its line of sunglasses, licensed by Marcolin. Read more.

Travie McCoy Dons Carrera

In the latest Gym Class Heroes music video “Ass Back Home,” Travie McCoy dons Champion sunglasses from Carrera. The track is featured on the band’s current album The Papercut Chronicles II. Sleeping on buses and in hotel rooms in different cities every night, the documentary style video showcases the hard, taxing lifestyle of an artist while on tour. Fortunately, for lead singer Travie McCoy, his distinctive sunglasses help keep him stylish and charismatic during even the most trying times while on the road.

In 2012 Health Care Suppliers Report "Payments" to MDs and ODs and Maybe Opticians

The Vision Council  reports that starting next year, the Physician Payment Sunshine Act (part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which will include ODs, will go into effect as part of the 2010 Health Care Reform. (It remains unclear whether this applies to opticians.) It will make patients aware of payments of health care equipment to health care providers. The Vision Council outlines what it sees as the key provisions:

• "The law is designed to collect information about 'payments' made to 'physicians' by manufacturers of medical devices that are reimbursable under Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Healthcare Program (CHiP). It requires the reporting of this information by manufacturers of such health care devices.

• "Reportable 'payments' are not defined as cash only, and consist of other 'payments' such as the transfer of other items of value, including gifts, entertainment and food.
  • "The law specifically states that discounts and rebates are not included and do not need to be reported....
• "All medical device manufacturers must develop a program beginning January 1, 2012 that tracks all applicable 'payments.'" Read more.

Ontario Expands Childrens Eye Care Program

Ontario's Ministry of Health and Long Term Care has expanded its "Eye See…Eye Learn" (ESEL) program into the greater London, ON,  area. The program helps to identify children with eye health and vision problems before they begin grade one. According to OHIP data, less than 10 per cent of Ontario children have an eye exam before entering school, but about 25 per cent of all children have a significant vision problem that could impair their ability to learn. Good vision is vital to academic success, in fact, 80 per cent of all learning during a child's first 12 years comes directly through vision. Read more. U.S. states should probably look into similar types of programs for their children.

OSHA Fines Contractor for Not Offering Protective Eyewear

"The contracting firm G.A. Denison & Sons Inc. faces $110,000 in fines for federal safety violations at an Old Lyme work site, the U.S. Department of Labor said Tuesday," according to a post on The Day. "The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the firm, owned by George A. Denison, for 14 'willful and serious violations,' including working without hard hats and failing to provide protective eyewear. The proposed fines followed an inspection June 7 of a work site at the Old Lyme Fire Department firehouse, OSHA said." Read more.

Why Children Are Born with No Eyes

"Scientists at University College Dublin, Ireland, have identified a genetic alteration which causes a child to be born with no eyes – a condition called anophthalmia," according to a Health Canal post. "According to the findings published in the current issue (December 2011) of Human Mutation, a child’s eyes will not develop fully in the womb if the child has alterations in both copies of its STRA6 gene which is responsible for transporting vitamin A into the cells." Read more.

To the Pioneering Spirit of the So-Called First International Eyewear Designer

Alain Mikli

"Alain Mikli, 56, is not just the most famous eyewear designer in the world — he invented the job description." So begins the post on Japan Times. "Mikli was the first person to achieve worldwide success as a designer of nothing else but eyeglasses. He established his own brand in Paris in 1978 and pioneered the idea of wearing frames as accessories. In the early 1980s, Elton John was one of the first celebrities to fall in love with his designs, and soon Mikli's creations won over his competition, with the biggest names in fashion — Claude Montana, Jil Sander, Issey Miyake and Donna Karan." Read more.

Believe It or Not, Luxottica Could Be Bigger

"Italian eyewear manufacturer Luxottica Group (LUX) has built an impressive global business, and recent results have shown positive growth. Over the last year the company saw its growth slowed by currency exchange rates, converting dollars to euros." So starts the post from MoneyNews. "Luxottica Group currently generates 80 percent of its retail sales in the United States. As a result, net sales in euros for the third quarter increased by just 4 percent on a year-over-year basis. Sales in dollar terms grew by almost 14 percent. On a constant currency basis, the sales would have grown by 10 percent. During the year, the euro strengthened against the dollar, going from about $1.30 per euro to over $1.41. A reversal of this trend would be positive for Luxottica in terms of euro results." Read more.

Orgreen Launches New Eyewear Campaign

"The latest mist-filled Orgreen 2012 eyewear campaign is shot among the vast and beautiful backdrop of rural Iceland," reports TrendHunter. "The captivating ad campaign stars model Xoan in images captured by photographer, Klaus Thymann. The sharply dressed model is outfitted in dapper and tailored ensembles, styled by Sebastian Machado. Xoan sports suited looks that complement a mix of modern and vintage-inspired frames." Read more.

Boondock Saints Star Name Brand Ambassador for Police Eyewear

"Welsh actor Luke Evans has been announced as the UK Brand Ambassador for Italian brand Police Eyewear," according to RedPages. "The iconic blue Police lenses are the focus of the campaign, photographed by Jason Hetherington. Luke follows in the footsteps of the likes of Bruce Willis, George Clooney and David Beckham." Read more.

Rockers and Their Eyewear

Lady Gaga

Elvis Costello

Remember our piece about Buddy Holly. Here's a better one that appeared in recently on the Wall Street Journal's website: "Pop-culture experts often point to those black frames as rock's first great fashion statement, one that set the stage for countless others. Without Buddy Holly's glasses, they say, the world would likely never have seen John Lennon in his granny-style glasses nor Elton John in his oversize frames. For that matter, it might never have seen Madonna in her cone-shaped bra or Lady Gaga in her meat dress, says Gregory DelliCarpini Jr., fashion editor of Billboard.com, the online home of the music trade publication. 'Holly took this accessory and made it part of his identity…The concept of a fashion item defining an artist continues today.'" Read more.

Frat Teams Up with TOMS

The fraternity "Delta Gamma...has partnered with TOMS in 'The Great Fight for Sight,' a competition between DG chapters to sell eyewear to benefit visually impaired children across the globe," reports the Chrimson White."In the competition, which began Nov. 30 and will end June 22, each DG chapter is given a specific code to give to family and friends. When buying a pair of sunglasses from TOMS, using the promo code at checkout will credit the chapter. The two chapters that promote the most sales win $1000 to go toward a Service for Sight fundraising event, among other prizes." Read more.

Patients with Keratoconus Gain Acuity with Pancorneal Toric Rigid Gas-Permeable CLs

Keratoconus Topography

"A novel pancorneal toric rigid gas-permeable contact lens significantly improved visual acuity and yielded discernable changes in corneal compression in patients with keratoconus, a study found." That's a post on the PCONSuperSite. "The retrospective study included 30 eyes with keratoconus that were fitted with a 12-mm contact lens with a toricity value of 0 to 1.2 between the end of the optical zone and the contact lens edge. Mean patient age was 48 years. Corneal topography was assessed at the time of patient enrollment and after at least 2 months of contact lens wear to determine horizontal and vertical keratometry values and mean corneal eccentricity. Best corrected visual acuity was also evaluated. Mean follow-up was 22 months."  Read more.

Monicon Purchases Japan's 4th Largest CL Retailer

Menicon Co., Ltd. will purchase W.I. System Inc., Japan's fourth largest CL retail chains with annual gross sales of $130 million. W.I. System stores will continue to provide a broad array of lenses and lens-related products from Menicon and other manufacturers to meet the diverse needs of Japan's contact lens wearers. Read more.

Buddy Holly in CLs. Say It Ain't So. Well, Maybe

"Buddy Holly wearing contact lenses? That’ll be the day." That's the start of a post from the Buddy Holly Archives. "It might have happened except for poor technology, Dr. J. Davis Armistead and Phil Silvers, not necessarily in that order. 'Back in the early days of contact lenses, the technology had not been developed,' said Armistead, a longtime Lubbock optometrist who counted Holly among his patients. 'I had gone to a contact lens seminar in Los Angeles, and Buddy wanted me to try and fit him.' Holly, who would in just a short time become one of the most influential performers ever to appear on the rock ‘n’ roll scene, became a patient of Armistead’s while in junior high. As Holly’s musical talent blossomed, Armistead said Holly was not convinced eyewear should be a part of his on-stage personality." Read more.

Unite for Sight Wins Global Competition

A winner of the global "Making More Health: Achieving Individual, Family and Community Well-Being," funded Ashoka Changemakers in partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim, "Unite for Sight reaches the hard to reach by leveraging a resource that is already on the ground: the local ophthalmologists in poor regions who have the expertise but lack the material, human and financial resources to do what they do best. By supporting local health care workers and enterprises, Unite for Sight has dramatically increases their capacity to provide eye care." Read more about United for Sight and other winners in the Huffington Post.

Existing Pedi Treatments to Slow Myopia Possibly Ineffective

"Existing treatments to slow the progression of nearsightedness, or myopia, in children are either ineffective or impractical because of side effects, according to a Cochrane Library review of randomized clinical trials," according to a post on Medscape. "The report, published online December 7 and in the December issue of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, notes that several new approaches, including the use of corneal reshaping contact lenses or bifocal soft contact lenses, are promising. However, the reviewers were unable to evaluate either treatment because the approaches have not been studied in randomized clinical trials." Read more.

Cooper Surprises Analysts

"Eye care company Cooper Cos. topped expectations with its fiscal fourth-quarter performance, but analysts remain concerned about lingering Food and Drug Administration issues," reports MSNBC. "The Pleasanton, Calif., company said Thursday its profit increased 18 percent in the fiscal fourth quarter as sales of contact lenses improved. The company earned $56.6 million, or $1.15 per share, in the three months ended Oct. 31. Revenue climbed 15 percent to $360.9 million...Cooper reported solid results, Jefferies analyst Raj Denhoy said in a Friday morning research note. But the analyst lowered a price target on the stock to $70 from $77 and said he remained sidelined on the stock 'given evolving FDA issues.'...The FDA also recently issued a warning letter to Cooper with five observations about its lone U.S. distribution facility, Citi analyst Amit Bhalla noted. The analyst also said in a note the agency will perform an upcoming inspection of a Cooper manufacturing location in the United Kingdom that makes a high volume of contact lenses." Read more.

Protective Gear Reduces Lacrosse Players' Eye Injuries

"The use of protective eyewear in women’s lacrosse was associated with a reduction in the number of eye injuries," That's part of conclusion of a study comparing eye injuries before and after the protective eyewear mandatel It appears on a SafePub post. "The number of head/face injuries decreased in this study group after introduction of protective eyewear, and there was no change in overall injury rates. The reason for the increase in concussion rate cannot be determined conclusively based on this study, but the authors speculate that this increase resulted largely from increased recognition and diagnosis because overall injury rates do not indicate rougher play with introduction of protective equipment." Read more.

Sequencing of the Mouse Neural Retina

Sequencing of Mourse Neural Retina

In a new study, researchers have gained new insights into neural disease genes by sequencing virtually all the gene expression in the mouse neural retina. The technology to obtain such a “transcriptome” has become accessible enough that full-scale sequencing is the preferred method for asking genetics questions. Read more.

Manipulating the Location of a Tadpole's Eye

Xenopus tadpole after manipulation of its membrane voltage.

Using genetic manipulation of membrane voltage in Xenopus (frog) embryos, biologists at Tufts University's School of Arts and Sciences were able to cause tadpoles to grow eyes outside of the head area. The researchers achieved most surprising results when they manipulated membrane voltage of cells in the tadpole's back and tail, well outside of where the eyes could normally form.Read more.

Hugo Boss Yacht to Compete in Trans-Atlantic Race

The Hugo Boss yacht left St. Barts (Lesser Antilles) to compete in a tough solo race across the Atlantic Ocean. The fleet is due to arrive at Lorient, France, after 12 to 16 days at sea.

New Interactive Opticians Handbook Online

Vision Monday reports that "the new 2011 Opticians Handbook at www.opticianshandbook.com has launched this week, in a new online, interactive format. The Handbook is produced by 20/20 Magazine and the 20/20 Opticianry Study Center, both part of the Jobson Optical Group." Read more.

Firefighters at Risk

"In fire experiments conducted in uniformly furnished, but vacant Chicago-area townhouses, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers uncovered temperature and heat-flow conditions that can seriously damage facepiece lenses on standard firefighter breathing equipment, a potential contributing factor for first-responder fatalities and injuries,"  according to EurekAlert. "The findings are detailed in a report* from a research study sponsored by the U.S. Fire Administration and Department of Homeland Security. The work is an important step toward improving what may be the most vulnerable component of a firefighter's protective gear in high-heat conditions: the facepiece lenses of the so-called self-contained breathing apparatus, or SCBA." Read more.

Misleading News Reports about CooperVision Recall

"The FDA issued a recall for CooperVision’s Avaira Aquaform comfort science daily wear sphere soft contact lenses due to the unintended presence of a silicone oil residue on the lenses," says goes one news release.This implies that there was a third recall for CooperVision's CLs. However, all the "news" stories, including on CNBC, reference the Nov. 15,2011, FDA recall, which has been reported thoroughly. They also link the CooperVision recall notice and the FDA's notice, both dated mid-November or mid-August. In other words, the news that came out on Dec. 7, 2011, does not reflect a new recall.

Super-Predator Eyes Found

"Australian scientists on Thursday hailed the discovery of a pair of insect-like eyes belonging to a freakish prehistoric super-predator which trawled the seas more than 500 million years ago," according to Straits Times. Read more.

Singer's Wooden Wonderland

"Portland, Oregon, native Eric Singer stumbled upon a business plan  while foraging through his backyard. Combining the limb of a Madrone tree with a rusty pair of cabinet hinges and lenses from the corner store, the eyewear brand Shwood was born and has been making waves at retail with its unique spin on a somewhat overly saturated market, using a material that most would never associate with that particular product category." So goes the post on Transworld Business. "The brand, which was founded in 2009 and houses its manufacturing facility in Portland, Oregon, still makes all of its product solely by hand—a process that merges technology with classic skilled craftsmanship. Every step, from veneering and lens cutting to shaping and finishing, is conducted in-house, and 'wood manipulation is kept to a minimum in order to showcase its natural and unique splendor,' according to the Shwood website." Read more.

Spatial Conflict Is More than Two People Standing in the Same Place--the Unrecognized Visual Process

"We don't see only what meets the eye. The visual system constantly takes in ambiguous stimuli, weighs its options, and decides what it perceives. This normally happens effortlessly. Sometimes, however, an ambiguity is persistent, and the visual system waffles on which perception is right. Such instances interest scientists because they help us understand how the eyes and the brain make sense of what we see," according to Medical News Today. "Most scientists believe rivalry occurs only when there's 'spatial conflict' - two objects striking the same place on the retina at the same time as our eyes move. But the retina isn't the only filter or organizer of visual information. There's also the 'non-retinal reference frame'- objects such as mountains or chairs that locate things in space and make the world appear stable even when our eyes are moving." Read more.

Understanding the Eye and the Nervous System

Medical News Today notes that "hanks to a new study of the retina, scientists at UC Santa Barbara have developed a greater understanding of how the nervous system becomes wired during early development. The findings reflect the expansion of developmental neurobiology and vision research at UCSB. The work is described in a recent publication of the Journal of Neuroscience. The research team examined the connectivity of nerve cells, called neurons, in mice. Neurons communicate with one another via synapses where the dendrites and axon terminals of different cells form contacts. This is where nerve signals are transmitted from one neuron to another." Read more.

Is Turning Brown Eyes Blue Discriminatory?

"A doctor who can turn brown eyes blue has denied that his revolutionary technique is ethnically insensitive," reports the UK's Daily Mail. "Dr Gregg Homer, from Stroma Medical in California unveiled his Lumineyes technology which can permanently change a person's eye colour in just 20 seconds last month. But as the £3,200 cosmetic procedure doesn't work in reverse - meaning you cannot turn a blue eye brown - many are questioning if it is discriminatory." Read more.

Students Help "Classmate Avoid Going Blind

"By the end of December, doctors predict, a university law student will go totally blind, unless she gets a cornea transplant," starts the post on the Tanzania The Citizen. "It is now a race against time for her classmates who are frantically selling sweets, popcorn, cakes and T-shirts to raise cash and give her the gift of eyesight." Read more. The group has also set up a Facebook page.

One Man's Friend, Another's Pooper

"A trendy Chelsea eyeglass shop claims its building is going to the birds — thanks to a tenant who’s turned her co-op into a coop," reports the New York Daily News. "The owners of Tina Catherine Eyewear filed a lawuit Monday, complaining an upstairs neighbor is feeding the pigeons — and letting them roost in her second-floor apartment....The result is excrement on the building facade and a foul odor that spreads through the sleek Eighth Ave. storefront when the heat or air conditioning kicks on, court papers say."  Read more.

A Few Words from John Lennon's OD

"I was John Lennon’s optometrist for the last four years of his life, when he and Yoko lived on the Upper West Side of New York City. Thirty years later, patients are still asking what he was like. Here are some of my memories." That's the intriguing start of a post by Gary Tracy, OD, for MidwestLens. Read more.

Is Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder? Or His/Her Brain? Or Where?

"Now it is doubtless correct that visual artists confine themselves to materials and effects that are, well, visible. And likewise, it seems right that our perception of works of art, like our perception of anything, depends on the nature of our perceptual capacities, capacities which, in their turn, are constrained by the brain," according to a post by Alva Noe in the New York Times. "But there is a problem with this: An account of how the brain constrains our ability to perceive has no greater claim to being an account of our ability to perceive art than it has to being an account of how we perceive sports, or how we perceive the man across from us on the subway. In works about neuroaesthetics, art is discussed in the prefaces and touted on the book jackets, but never really manages to show up in the body of the works themselves!" Read more.

Update about the Cooper Recall

"An estimated 4.9 million contact lens have been voluntarily recalled by CooperVision because they may cause blurry vision, severe eye pain, and injuries that require medical treatment," reports Atlanta.InjuryBoard.com. "According to a news release by the company, the problem involves the level of silicone oil left on the lenses during the manufacturing process. In August the company recalled close to 800,000 Avaira Toric lenses after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received dozens of reports of eye pain and vision problems. The current recall, which involves Avaira Sphere contact lenses, was prompted after the FDA issued a Class I recall – the most stringent classification - about the products. To date, the agency has received 40 reports of problems associated with CooperVision contact lenses. Fifteen of those reports mentioned Avaira Toric and at least two mentioned Avaira Sphere." Read more.

New Site for ECPs and Visually Challenged

ChromaGen Vision launched We Read Better blog, an interactive platform that will educate and connect ChromaGen wearers, eye care professionals and those with a general interest in reading. The blog focuses on how to read better. It will share the latest information about reading, provide references for people who have reading difficulties and highlight the latest technologies and developments that are helping people combat the symptoms of reading disorders.

How Hearing and Vision Interact?

How do sound and sight interact? That's the subject of a post from Medical News Today.

"Imagine you are playing ping-pong with a friend. Your friend makes a serve. Information about where and when the ball hit the table is provided by both vision and hearing. Scientists have believed that each of the senses produces an estimate relevant for the task (in this example, about the location or time of the ball's impact) and then these votes get combined subconsciously according to rules that take into account which sense is more reliable. And this is how the senses interact in how we perceive the world. However, our findings show that the senses of hearing and vision can also interact at a more basic level, before they each even produce an estimate," says Ladan Shams, a UCLA professor of psychology, and the senior author of a new study appearing in the December issue of Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science. "If we think of the perceptual system as a democracy where each sense is like a person casting a vote and all votes are counted (albeit with different weights) to reach a decision, what our study shows is that the voters talk to one another and influence one another even before each casts a vote."

Read more.

Doc Goes Up the River but Keeps License

Former South Florida political power broker "Alan Mendelsohn will be able to go back to his medical practice after serving a federal prison term for wire fraud conspiracy and other crimes, a state medical licensing board decided on Friday," reports the Sun Sentinel. "The Florida Board of Medicine agreed Friday to approve a settlement between Mendelsohn and the state Department of Health. Under the terms of the agreement, Mendelsohn, a Hollywood eye doctor, will receive a reprimand. He must also pay a $20,000 fine, reimburse investigative costs of $4,616, and his medical license will be on probation for three years." Read more.

VSP Chief Talks about Seeing Beyond the Veneer

Rob Lynch, CEO of VSP Global

"When I was 14, I worked on a farm, picking tomatoes. I was paid 50 cents an hour and made enough to buy a pair of skis," goes the New York Times post. "In high school and college, I worked on an ambulance as an Explorer, in the Boy Scouts-affiliated program that links young people to various professional services. I also trained as an emergency medical technician."  Read more about his start as VSP's chief. 

Seeing from the Hills of Rio's Favela

Raffi Khatchadourian of the New Yorker wrote: "The images of eyes, unblinking and the size of buildings, stared down from the slum on a hill—Rio de Janeiro’s oldest favela, Morro da Providência—and into the heart of the city. They emerged mysteriously, in the summer of 2008, not long after three young men from the community were murdered. The Brazilian Army and a powerful narco-mafia were implicated, and, when the news broke, residents of the favela rioted. The eyes were women’s eyes..." Read more about the effects of the visual on the living.

Tura and Baker Renew Deal

Eyesurf  reports that "Tura Inc. and Ted Baker, the U.K.–based clothing designer, have finalized a long-term renewal of their license agreement for the design, production and marketing of Ted Baker’s ophthalmic and sunwear collections in North America." Read more.

Seeing More than Meets the Eye

"We don't see only what meets the eye. The visual system constantly takes in ambiguous stimuli, weighs its options, and decides what it perceives. This normally happens effortlessly. Sometimes, however, an ambiguity is persistent, and the visual system waffles on which perception is right. Such instances interest scientists because they help us understand how the eyes and the brain make sense of what we see," reports MedicalNewsToday. "Most scientists believe rivalry occurs only when there's 'spatial conflict' - two objects striking the same place on the retina at the same time as our eyes move. But the retina isn't the only filter or organizer of visual information. There's also the 'non-retinal reference frame' - objects such as mountains or chairs that locate things in space and make the world appear stable even when our eyes are moving." Read more.

Eyewear Sales Grow for Coastal

Coastal Contacts Inc. sales that sales of eyeglasses through its North American hub grew 150% on Cyber Monday, November 28, 2011, when compared with the same day last year.

Legal Terrain Shifting for CooperVision

The CooperVision legal terrain constantly is shifting as more law firms come forward to represent investors or individuals injured by one of Cooper's recalled CL. For example, Brower Piven has commenced a law suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of purchasers of the common stock of The Copper Companies, Inc. The courts have not certified a class for the suit. When the court selects the lead plaintiff, this plaintiff and his/her counsel will lead the class action. The court will apply the lead plaintiff after Jan. 27, 2012, who will be selected from among applicants claiming the largest loss from investment. And Ennis & Ennis is offering free, consultations to individuals suffering eye injuries as a result of the Avaira Toric or Sphere contact lenses.

Consumers affected by the recall or who think they are affected by the recall can go to this site: http://www.coopervision.com/recall. Should they have the lot number, they can type it into a search window and CooperVision will tell the user if he/she should be concerned. 

Use FDA's MedWatch

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently issued safety alerts about a number of products, including a potentially contaminated nasal spray, contact lenses that may cause eye injuries, and an unapproved drug sold as a testosterone booster. These and other alerts were prompted by reports FDA received from health care professionals and the public through the agency's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting Program. To report a problem as a health care professional, go to http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/default.htm.

B+L Buys Argentinean CL Maker

"Bausch + Lomb, the global eye health company, today announced it has acquired 100 percent of the outstanding shares of Laboratorio Pfortner Cornealent SACIF, the controlling entity of Waicon," according to Medical-News. "Waicon is the Argentinean market leader in contact lenses and lens care products. As a result of this combination, Bausch + Lomb will be the leading eye health company in Argentina. The Pfortner family will continue to operate their retail chain of optical shops under the brand name "Pfortner" and as an independent company, unrelated to Bausch + Lomb." Read more.

Moody's Raised Its Safilo Rating

Moody's raised its outlook on Safilo Group SpA (BIT:SFL) to "positive", keeping the B3 corporate family rating (CFR) and probability of default rating (PDR), citing improved operating performance in the first nine months of 2011. Moody's also affirmed the Caa2 rating on EUR128m (USD172.6m) of notes outstanding, due in 2013 and issued by Safilo Capital International SA, the rating agency said in a statement. Read more.

Settlement Reached in the California Lawsuit against Compete MoisturePlus

Attorneys for California consumers who purchased the recalled Complete MoisturePlus contact lens solution have agreed to settle a court-certified class action consumer fraud lawsuit against Advanced Medical Optics (now known as Abbott Medical Optics, "AMO") concerning its sale of the solution. The settlement is subject to court approval. The lawsuit is styled Lazar vs. Advanced Medical Optics, Orange County Superior Court Case No. 07CC01296. In May 2007, AMO recalled the solution after a CDC report noted an increased statistical risk of developing a parasitic eye infection called Acanthamoeba keratitis in individuals who used the solution. The lawsuit alleged that AMO misled consumers into believing that the product would effectively "disinfect" contact lenses. The plaintiffs claim that the solution did not disinfect against Acanthamoeba and other harmful organisms. The plaintiffs sought a refund of the money that California consumers paid to purchase the product. AMO denies plaintiffs' allegations and claims that the solution met FDA requirements.

FDA Hold Hears about Contaminated Cosmetics

"On Wednesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is holding a public meeting examining microbiological safety issues in cosmetics," according to an MSNBC report. "Currently, the FDA doesn't approve cosmetics before they are sold to consumers and has no specific regulations regarding microbial safety in cosmetic products. But the agency is contemplating developing such safety guidelines for cosmetic makers, and the public meeting will give leading experts a chance to have their say. Contaminated cosmetics, particularly those used in the eye area, can lead to serious issues, according to the FDA. If lotion, often used on the whole body, is tainted, it can lead to infections." Read more.

Class Action Lawsuits Filed against Cooper

The Wilmington, DE, based Rigrodsky & Long, P.A., has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California for stockholders of Cooper Companies, parent of CooperVision. The complaint names Cooper and certain of the company’s directors and officers as defendants, alleging that during the class period, the defendants made  statements that concealed known quality control problems and process defects at the Company’s new overseas contact lens manufacturing facilities. Read more.

Additionally,  Gilman Law LLP, has filed a securities fraud class action lawsuit against The Cooper Companies, Inc., and certain Cooper officers and directors in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California for violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Read more.

Holzer Holzer & Fistel, LLC, also has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of some Cooper Companies, Inc., stockholders. The lawsuit claims that Cooper concealed information relating to problems it was experiencing with quality control at its overseas manufacturing facilities for contact lenses. Read more. 

"A Connecticut law firm [Scott + Scott LLC] is suing contact lens maker Cooper Cos. regarding its recalls this year of its Avaira Toric and Avaira Sphere contact lenses," reports the Democrat and Chronicle. "The suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that California-based Cooper downplayed problems it was having with the contact lens lines and thus artificially inflated its stock value, causing investors big losses when those problems came to light." Read more.
 

Luxottica Purchases Tecnol

Luxottica purchased an 80 percent stake in Grupo Tecnol yesterday for 10 million Euros. The deal should be completed by the beginning of January. The remaining 20 percent will be purchased by 2016. Read more.