American Optometric Association Kicks Off AOA TV
Written by Cathy on March 3, 2010 – 7:49 pm -
Proud Sponsors Of AOA-TV- Visit at iwantmyaoatv.com
The Optical Vision Site Is Listed As a Sponsor With AOA TV!
I just watched the first episode of AOA TV and loved it because it is a great way to keep up to date with the latest in eyecare health reform, laws,industry news, live interviews with industry leaders, member spotlights in a concise manner, meaning it doesn’t take up too much time, and like TV you can multi-task and update yourself at the same time
Philip Goldthwait OD , Neha Amin OD, Marcus Neitzke OD and Dr. Michael Radoiu were some of the optometrist highlighted and interviewed for the initial launch. All content is written and edited by AOA just in case you think it is would be irrelevant.
To watch the video click at I Want My AOA TV.com, you can also become a Fan on Facebook. Links will also be on the AOA website, YouTube, Facebook and other Social Media Venues.
AOA TV- And The Optical Vision Site
What I think is great: the AOA is reaching out to members and optical professionals in a multitude of ways in order to communicate and educate in a variety of ways that best suit an individual needs. We at the Optical Vision Site are proud to be part of AOA TV in their groundbreaking launch of AOA TV.
Tags: News
Posted in Eye News | 7 Comments »
Lorinda Fraboni of Walman Optical Company is a Star!
Written by Shirley on March 2, 2010 – 10:28 pm -
We are not waiting for the OWA’s event, at Vision Expo East 2010, to congratulate Lorinda Fraboni of Walman Optical Company – She is a Star! Lorinda is being awarded the OWA’s 1st ANNUAL PYXIS AWARD.
CONGRATULATIONS LORINDA!!
What is the Optical Women’s Association’s Pyxis Award? PYXIS is a constellation in the southern sky known as “The Compass”. The PYXIS Award is presented to a member of the OWA who actively participates in the organization and promotes the OWA throughout the optical industry, contributing to OWA’s continuing growth. The recipient of the PYXIS Award is exceptional in her commitment to support and develop the OWA. She helps set direction of the organization by her actions and inspires by her leadership
I met Lorinda during the early days of the OWA and if it wasn’t for her, the organization would not be what it is today. She has a depth of tenacity and commitment that I can’t begin to describe. I know she puts just us much into her work at Walman Optical Company where she is I.S. Manager, Lab Operations and Data Warehouse. The Optical Vision Site will be there to cheer for her!
Event Details:
Friday, March 19, 2010 – 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. -Program begins at 6:45 p.m. – Diane Von Furstenberg Studio, 440 West 14th Street.
OVS sponsors that support the OWA events and programs include: ClearVision, Pixel Optics, Shamir, Transitions, Tura and The Vision Council.
Tags: News
Posted in Eye News | 2 Comments »
The Optical Vision Site Gets Recognized In Print!!
Written by Cathy on February 25, 2010 – 9:03 pm -After a long day of blogging and slogging away and working on BBS (blogger butt syndrome) I finally sit down on my (BBSB) with that nice glass of organic wine and pick up the February issue of Vision Care Product news and Surprise! There we are on the column Spec-tacular Blogs! It made my day! Thank you Vision Care Product News! The blogs you picked out we also read and like and are proud to be included in such esteemed blogs.
Spec-Tacular Blogs by Vision Care Product News
Tags: Business
Posted in Eye News | 2 Comments »
Vintage Eyewear at London Fashion Week
Written by Shirley on February 23, 2010 – 8:14 pm -This picture is from Tommy Tom’s blog on London’s best street style during London Fashion Week. Looks like Vintage Eyewear is still in! I like it. There were lots of pix of sky high heels too but I wish that trend would go away! FYI one of our sponsors, Best Image Optical are a great source for vintage eyewear.
Vintage Eyewear - London Fashion Week
Source: www.style.com
Tags: Eyewear, News, Trends
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Optometrist Of The Year- Joe Mallinger O.D. From Vision West
Written by Cathy on February 15, 2010 – 7:20 pm -
We love it when one of our optical sponsors gets recognized! Joe Mallinger OD, MBA., FAAO and CEO of Vision West a premium optical buying group, was just named Optometrist of The Year by the California Optometric Association (COA). Congratulations Dr. Mallinger, we are very proud and honored that we know you! Plus we thank you again for all of your support! For those who just started reading this blog, Dr. Mallinger in full support of entrepreneurship was our very first sponsor!
Tags: News
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Glaucoma Controversy In California- Two Opinions
Written by Cathy on February 13, 2010 – 6:24 am -As many eyecare professional know, the glaucoma controversy has been an emotional issue here in California and other areas. Here are two opinion pieces that were in the San Diego Union on Feb 12, 2010.
Proposed Glaucoma Treatment Loophole Would Put Patients At Risk by Dr. Scotti, ophthalmologist in Encinitas
The law is on a collision course with blindness. The Legislature, lobbied by the state Board of Optometry, is about to allow the creation of “glaucoma treatment loophole.” Practicing optometrists will be allowed to treat glaucoma based on two 16-hour courses and a multiple-choice test.
Glaucoma can result in loss of vision and possible blindness. Under proposed regulations, optometrists can be certified to treat this complex eye disease without ever having treated a single glaucoma patient.
Ten years ago, the Legislature authorized optometrists to treat glaucoma only if they completed stringent “hands-on” clinical requirements first. However, in 2008 the California Optometric Association pushed through legislation to repeal that safeguard. Unknown to the Legislature at the time, eight veterans had been blinded and more than 20 others lost vision while under the care of at least two optometrists at the Palo Alto VA hospital. Those incidents are now under investigation by the Medical Board of California and the Board of Optometry and underscore the need for meaningful training standards.
The 2008 legislation, SB 1406, created a carefully balanced process for determining the training required before optometrists could treat glaucoma patients. The Department of Consumer Affairs was given unique authority to modify the recommendations to protect those patients. Both houses of the Legislature passed this compromise bill with a near unanimous vote.
However, Consumer Affairs, under former Director Carrie Lopez, short-circuited the process and hired a former president of the California Optometric Association to, in essence, determine what the requirements would be. Lopez has since resigned as a result of unrelated improprieties.
Not surprisingly, the former Optometric Association president produced a set of association-slanted recommendations. In his report, the consultant even admitted his own bias:
“I am not certain that I can completely divorce myself from this bias … nonetheless I have tried.”
Shortly after taking office, the new Department of Consumer Affars director, Brian Stiger, indicated in a letter to medical groups that he understood concerns with the “process by which the recommendations were made.” He then went on to suggest the optometric board “re-evaluate its decision to proceed with the regulations.”
The board completely ignored Stiger’s offer to correct the tainted process, and the “glaucoma treatment loophole” regulations continue to move forward.
Put simply, they would allow a candidate to choose between taking two 16-hour courses without any actual supervised patient treatment and an exam, or undergoing a “hands-on” experience with actual glaucoma patients for 12 months under the supervision of a certified optometrist or a board-certified ophthalmologist.
“Hands-on” training to treat an eye or any other medical disease shouldn’t be voluntary. The state would never consider allowing a pilot to fly his or her first airliner between Los Angeles and Sacramento based only on two 16-hour courses and a multiple-choice exam. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what California is about to authorize under these regulations.
Stiger was right to offer the optometric board the opportunity to correct the process tainted by hiring a former president of the Optometric Association. We have offered constructive suggestions that would help address our concerns with the regulations and are hopeful the optometric board will adopt them. Short of that, we ask the Consumer Affairs director to protect the public from an increased risk of blindness by vetoing the proposed regulations.
Scotti, an ophthalmologist who practices in Encinitas, is president-elect of the California Academy of Eye Physicians and Surgeons.
Ophthalmologist’s Economic Concerns Trump Public Health- by Lisa Weiss, optometrist in El Cajon, Ca.
My colleagues and I – California-licensed doctors of optometry – are about much more than helping you see clearly. We are your gateway to primary and advanced medical care.
Before fitting you for glasses and contact lenses, we’re trained to perform a comprehensive eye exam. Using as many as 26 distinct measurements of your eye and nerve pathways systems we’re qualified to diagnose and either treat, manage or consult for treatment all of the following conditions:
• Vision problems that affect neurological development, learning, balance, and on-the job performance.
• Eye disease.
• Cataracts.
• Corneal disease.
• Retinal detachment.
• Glaucoma.
• Diabetes.
• Hypertension.
• Precancerous and cancerous tumors.
• Vascular disease.
• Viral and other diseases revealed through the eye.
• Foreign bodies or lesions of the eye and related structures.
You may ask: What’s the difference between an optometrist (O.D.) and an ophthalmologist (M.D.)? While we both go to school for four years after college and each take a three-part, national exam before we can be licensed by a state, here are the key differences:
• We begin specialized eye treatment the first day of optometry school. In most cases, they start after graduating from medical school. Two-thirds of American medical schools don’t even have an ophthalmology rotation in the first four years.
• They perform invasive surgery and we don’t – in fact, most of their “extra” time in internships and residencies is spent learning specialized eye surgery.
• Right now, in California, optometrists have to earn two to four different certifications after graduation to practice fully. A medical doctor just has to pass the national exam.
How is it that we cannot do as much for you here in California as our peers in most other states can for their patients? Simple, it’s politics. In spite of our differences, ophthalmologists view us as an economic threat, so they work to prevent the Legislature from expanding our scope of practice – even when it’s in your interest as an eye patient to do so.
Eighteen months ago, their associations and ours compromised on a bill, SB 1406, that authorizes us to do more for you. We also agreed that we’d work together to come up with acceptable standards to certify pre-2008 graduates to treat glaucoma without referral, except in specified cases where advanced medical treatment or surgery is indicated. (Post-May 1, 2008 graduates are automatically glaucoma certified.)
A word about glaucoma. It is a progressive eye disease that always results in blindness; it’s the second-leading cause of blindness in the U.S. In most cases, blindness can be forestalled with medications. In a small percentage of cases, eyesight can be saved only through much riskier surgery. We estimate that more than 430,000 Californians have glaucoma and don’t know it, and ethnic populations are at significantly greater risk. There are more than three times as many of us in practice as there are ophthalmologists and we’re more accessible. We are in more than 110 cities and towns and in 54 of 58 California counties. The Legislature agreed that we’re underutilized in this fight and left it to us to work it out.
The state Board of Optometry has proposed glaucoma certification regulations that are already more strict than those in place in 44 other states. We older graduates can live with the extra time and expense and are ready to go. Their position? Dead opposed; no proof, just charges. We’re undereducated, undertrained and a risk to the public. Baseless charges of negligent glaucoma treatment by optometrists at the Palo Alto VA medical facility have been planted in newspapers twice and still persist.
It’s time for them to stop putting their wallets above your health care. If they have proof that optometrists in 48 other jurisdictions are harming glaucoma patients, they should either produce it or get out of the way.
Weiss, an optometrist who practices in El Cajon, is president of the San Diego County Optometric Society.
Tags: News
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We Have A New Look!
Written by Cathy on February 8, 2010 – 7:33 pm -First we want to apologize to anyone who has had a problem logging on our site. Second we want to thank everyone who has notified us that they can’t log on our site. If you have been following us on Twitter or Facebook, you know we have had problems with our site since the beginning of the year. I can’t tell you how much time we have spent speaking with our server and IT people and just when we think things are fine, WHAM! we get hit again.
So here is our new look- because apparently Internet Explorer has problems sometimes with 3Column Word Press themes (which is what we use) Here is the DUH Moment- I went to Help and found out lots and lots of people have the same problem!
So we have a new theme/look and hopefully we will not have this problem again. So if you cannot log on- please let us know, we appreciate it and if you get an error message, please let us know what error it says!
Thank you again for letting us know and your patience- We truly appreciate it.
Cathy and Shirley
Tags: News
Posted in Eye News | 4 Comments »
Optical Vision Resources- Eyewear Updates And Celebrity Eyewear
Written by Cathy on February 6, 2010 – 9:12 am -From our sister site, Opticalvisionresources.com, a brief recap of optical trends in eyeglasses, companies giving back to the community, and of course celebrity sighting from the Eye Zone and Celebrity Sunglass Finder.
Eyewear Updates and Optical Trends
141 Eyewear Giving Back To the Community
Factory900- Eyewear With Belted Temples
Andy Wolf Eyewear- YouTube Video
Nannini Eyewear Design With Pivoting Temples
Jeremy Scott TV and FaceGuard Eyewear
Oakley Limited Edition Radar Path Sunglasses
Lady Gaga in Mickey Mouse Eyewear
K-Actor Futuristic Eyewear For Men by Classique Eyewear
SwitchVision Announces New Rx Program
Celebrity Updates
Usher Wearing Carrera in Hey Daddy Video
BCBG by ClearVision Optical In Grammy Swag Bags
Celebrity Sightings by The Eye Zone
Tags: News
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