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A new teenage phenomenon
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Selling contact lenses online in Singapore is now seen to be a way to make some quick cash for teenagers: http://www.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20111030-307798.html However, thanks to the actions of Custom officers, at least three teenage 'blogshop' owners have had their contact lenses seized. There is quite a risk in this form of entrepreneurship, as blogshop owners found guilty of illegally importing lenses such as South Korean iris-enlarging examples could face a $50,000 fine and two years in jail. The Health Sciences Authority has stepped up checks because of a recent spate of cases of counterfeit lenses. Rather than going to jail, perhaps the teenagers could be encouraged to study optometry/optics and go on to use their interest in contact lenses and ply their trade legitimately?
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Now 'gas' stations are pumping out contact lenses
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Among quite a few warning stories about Halloween contact lenses, there is a further news item from the US highlighting the illegal sale of contact lenses, this time by petrol (gas) stations in Georgia. It would seem that the State is now investigating the practice as it was picked up by CBS Atlanta. From reading this story http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/15886752/state-investigating-illegal-sale-of-color-contacts-at-gas-stations?clienttype=printable it is clear that there is great ignorance about the dangers posed by lack of contact lens care among both consumers and the business owners supplying these lenses without instruction. There's definitely a call for an education drive, but going by the amount of recent coverage on cosmetic contact lenses, it would appear that authorities in the US are taking the problem quite seriously.
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Contact lenses for casinos
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I've only just spotted this fantastic James Bond-esque story of a group of Italians who were allegedly swindling casinos by reading marked cards with 'special contact lenses'. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2049052/Gang-cheats-casino-55k-using-contact-lenses-invisible-ink-marked-cards.html?ITO=1490 Police thought they were using cameras at first but discovered that invisible markings on the back of cards could be read by treated contact lenses. Either that or they were an unfortunate trio of contact lens wearers who just happened to be very good at stud poker.
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Acanthamoeba settlement
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A policeman in Ireland who was suing health service bosses after claiming he had been left blind as a result of alleged failure to promptly diagnose Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) linked to wearing soft contact lenses has settled a High Court action http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/blind-garda-settles-case-against-hse-and-eye-specialist-2906261.html He was treated for viral keratitis and seen 11 times after his first consultation in June 2005, but by the time the diagnosis of AK was made in September that year, when his case was reviewed, he had lost his vision. It's a shocking story, made all the more so knowing that an early diagnosis may have saved his sight. AK, described as rare, is often linked with contact lenses coming into contact with water and is reported to result in a significant loss of visual acuity in 15 per cent of patients: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1771120/
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Do you recall?
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There seems to be a bit of a hoo ha in the US between CooperVision and the FDA over the former's August recall of certain lots of Avaira toric lenses, according to various online sources including Associated Press http://finance.yahoo.com/news/CooperVision-steps-up-contact-apf-1566125735.html?x=0&.v=5 It would seem that the FDA wants a greater effort to inform consumers about the defective products, which were said to cause blurred vision because of a manufacturing residue. Another report comments that CooperVision is working to 'complete' the recall initiated on August 19. There are further reports, some of them quite sensational, suggesting that complaints of severe eye pain have led to the continued recall http://www.rttnews.com/Content/TopStories.aspx?Id=1732718. The UK is not affected and we await developments with interest after what seems like a knuckle-rapping incident on the effective management of a product recall. CooperVision says it has fully cooperated and continues to closely monitor the situation http://www.coopervision.com/about-us/pressrelease/coopervision-continues-voluntary-recall-avaira-toric-contact-lenses On a personal basis and strictly talking about non-torics, I much prefer CooperVision's Biofinity lenses to Avaira.
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More cosmetic concerns
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It looks like Canada may get tough on cosmetic contact lenses as an MP is trying to get them regulated a la corrective contact lenses: http://www.canada.com/health/Ontario+pushes+regulation+cosmetic+contact+lenses/5501846/story.html. A bill introduced last week aims to close regulatory loopholes for unsafe non-corrective cosmetic contact lenses and the Canadian Association of Optometrists has called for parliamentarians to enact it with haste. A risk assessment for Health Canada concluded that cosmetic contact lenses justified regulation back in 2003. Meanwhile in the US, the latest warning on Halloween contact lenses proves that just because such contact lenses are 'considered medical devices under federal law' the threat to eye health does not go away. Those sold at flea markets, costume shops, beauty salons, online and other places can cause serious damage to your eyes from improper fit, according to a joint warning from the Pennsylvania departments of Health and State: http://www.fox43.com/news/wpmt-halloween-contact-lense-health-risk,0,1127288.story?track=rss Basically if children/teenagers don't get a proper contact lens fitting, they could end up with very scary looking eyes, for all the wrong reasons.