Opti-Free express

The news item 'Researchers highlight risks to contact lens wearers' carried in the March 10 issue may have caused some confusion among UK practitioners. The item concerned a US study on the efficacy of various multi-purpose solutions against clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. You stated that the solutions tested included Alcon's Opti-Free express Enhanced Disinfection Formula and Opti-Free express Multi-purpose Solution. These are not names that the UK practitioner will be familiar with. The product described in the study as Opti-Free express Enhanced Disinfection Formula is in fact the brand Opti-Free express solution sold in the UK since June 1998. At the time that this study was carried out, the product that UK practitioners know as Opti-1 was marketed in the US as Opti-Free express Multi-purpose Solution. The conclusion of the research was that the Opti-Free express formulation available to UK practitioners was 'by far the best disinfectant'. This type of independent endorsement of the enhanced disinfection provided by our product is very gratifying and corroborates our own published data on the activity of Opti-Free express. Cheryl Donnelly Professional Services Manager - Vision Care, Alcon