Ladders are no longer to be manufactured. Window cleaners will now have to assemble an expensive access tower to clean the first floor glass or hire a cherry picker. Does that sounds crazy to you? Not a scenario you can imagine? Why would anyone withdraw a simple yet practical tool, commensurate with a job, leaving only an over the top, and less suitable, alternative?
If you fit contact lenses then that is exactly what has happened. Bausch+Lomb has ceased production of fluorescein sodium ophthalmic strips, that's Fluorets to you and me, leaving the option of Minims fluorescein. To those who conduct anterior assessments this will create more expense, be less effective and take more time. They will struggle to instil just the amount needed, if the concentration is too high it won't fluoresce. Worst of all it may bring practitioner and patient into conflict.
For those undergoing examination they will have their eyes flooded with a 1 or 2 per cent solution. This will invariably stain their face and possibly clothes in the process. They won't be able to put their soft lenses back in and they will have been in the consulting room longer. The big danger is that practitioners will feel less inclined to examine patients as thoroughly.
So why the withdrawal? The reasons given by B+L include the cost of raw materials and diagnostic alternatives. We are assured that there are no safety concerns or recall and no other B+L products are impacted, including fluorescein products, which remain available. A window cleaner might surmise that ladder makers also manufacturer access towers.
By Chris Bennett, editor.