I'm looking for R&D not S&M

I have just had a sample bottle of a new multipurpose solution sent to me by the manufacturer.

The accompanying paperwork tells me about its excellent properties in removing contaminants, how wonderful it is with dry eyes, etc etc - 10 things I might believe before breakfast.

At great length it tells me how cheap it is and how it is not available on the internet. But does it give me any clinical information on which to decide if I should recommend it to my patients?

Does it tell me what preservatives - or even what category of preservatives - it uses? (Assuming it uses preservatives - for all I know they may have cloned Maxwell's demon to harpoon harmful bugs. Now there's a research project...)

Does it give me any idea at all of what it contains? Well, in honesty, yes it does. It has 'specialised lubricating surfactants'. That really tells me everything, doesn't it?

I wonder if I am alone in feeling insulted every time a new contact lens product appears: I am sent big, glossy brochures, samples, pop-up cards, etc, which all say how it is the best thing ever - sliced bread not excepted - but zero information that will let me decide which of my patients (if any) are likely to benefit from it.

Do they think I am going to recommend a new product just because they have sent me expensively-produced adverts?

Well, perhaps they do; most of this rubbish comes from the sales and/or marketing department. But what sort of marketing morons use expensive adverts without finding out what sort of thing the target buyers want to know? Oh, sorry, I have answered that question already - contact lens product marketers do.

Yes, I want to know about new products. Yes, I want to know how much they will cost me and my patients. Yes, I want to know about how it will be distributed. But, above all, I want the information that is appropriate for me as a professional user to assess whether I want to use and recommend it. I would be much more impressed if the information about new products came from the R&D division rather than S&M.

In favour of the latest product's sales division is that they sent the sample with a couple of restrained A4 sheets of paper, rather than thick, glossy card - so top marks for good taste. But they still haven't thought to send me what I need to know. Maybe their S&M division will read this letter. Maybe they will take note of it for their future product launches.

Maybe other manufacturers will too. If they don't read it, maybe their employers should consider replacing them - if they don't keep their finger on the optical pulse by reading the optician, are they doing their job properly?

Alan Donnelly
Thetford, Norfolk