In 2004, the Government of Ontario stopped insuring eye exams for healthy adults under age 65. Since then, people with diabetes have been getting fewer eye exams, although they are still covered due to their condition.

 

Between 1998 and 2004, about 69% of people aged 40 to 65 with diabetes in Ontario had an annual eye exam. Two years after the Ontario government delisted eye exams from the provincial health insurance plan for healthy adults, this rate fell to 61%. It dropped again to 57% in 2010. In comparison, between 1998 and 2010, rates of cholesterol testing and blood glucose testing, both covered under provincial health insurance, remained stable.

 

“Our findings suggest that delisting worsened the quality of diabetes care in Ontario – even though the policy change was not supposed to affect people with diabetes,” according to Dr. Tara Kiran, who noticed the drop during her study, which was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. This negative consequence could be explained by a misunderstanding by patients with diabetes of the new policy and by the possibility that some people may have been charged for exams that should have been free of charge.

 

 

 

PPG Industries, Inc. and Essilor International are in discussions over the future of Transitions Optical, in which they hold a 51% and 49% interest, respectively.

 

Although it cannot predict the outcome of the discussions, PPG showed its hand by raising the possibility of three options: the structure of ownership in Transitions could be modified, PPG could sell its shares to Essilor, in whole or in part, or PPG could buy Essilor’s shares. PPG has not ruled out the possibility that talks, which are expected to last a few more months, will result in the status quo.

 

Stating that the negotiations do not really impact the day-to-day operations of Transitions, Rick Elias, senior VP, optical and specialty materials for PPG Industries and Transitions Optical CEO, specified that PPG had announced that they were in discussions out of concern for transparency. “There’s a tremendous amount of things going on at PPG right now. We’re spinning off the commodity chemical business. There’s a lot of movement in the stock, so we want to make sure PPG is totally transparent.”

 

Sources:

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ppg-discussions-essilor-regarding-transitions-133000929.html

http://www.visionmonday.com/ViewContent/tabid/211/content_id/38546/catId/94/Default.aspx

 

 

 

 

 

Two experimental treatments for retinitis pigmentosa, based on stem cell grafts and gene therapy respectively, may soon move to clinical trials. Both have shown a capacity to improve the visual function in mice.

 

Dr. Stephen H. Tsang, researcher at Columbia University and ophthalmologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/CUMC described these findings as “very encouraging.” “We’ve never seen this type of improvement in retinal functions in mouse models of RP,” he says.

 

One of the treatments involves iPS stem cell grafts. These cells are capable of developing into any cell type and are not derived from embryos but from adult cells. They are injected into the retina and are assimilated into the pigmented epithelium. The benefits of this procedure lasted over the entire mice lifespan.

 

The other treatment was focussed on correcting genetic defects. The researchers injected healthy copies of a gene into the retina of mice. After six months, they found photoreceptor cells in the treated eye, which was able to see, but not in the other eye, which had lost vision.

 

Source:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/254385.php

 

 

A recent study shows that changes in blood vessels in the retina can be an early warning that a person is at risk of developing glaucoma.

 

Researchers led by Dr. Paul Mitchell, of the Centre for Vision Research at the University of Sydney, Australia, studied diagnostic photos and other data from the Australian Blue Mountains Eye Study, which involved nearly 2,500 patients. They found that those whose arteries were abnormally narrow at the start of the study were at increased risk of glaucoma 10 years later.

 

“Our results suggest that a computer-based imaging tool designed to detect narrowing of the retinal artery caliber, or diameter, could effectively identify those who are most at risk for open-angle glaucoma,” said Dr. Mitchell. “Such a tool would also need to account for blood pressure and other factors that can contribute to blood vessel changes. Early detection would allow ophthalmologists to treat patients before optic nerve damage occurs and would give us the best chance of protecting their vision.”

 

Source:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130102083613.htm

 

According to specialized news website Bloomberg, Abbott Laboratories, Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi are in the running to acquire Bausch + Lomb, which Warburg Pincus LLC is seeking to sell. Merck & Co and Pfizer have also shown interest in the company, according to Bloomberg, which has quoted anonymous sources.

 

Warburg expects to receive the first-round bids by the end of January, and is said to be seeking at least $10 billion. Such a transaction would be the third biggest sale ever by a private-equity-controlled company. The company had paid about $4.6 billion in 2007 for Bausch + Lomb, an acquisition that included debt. Since then, its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization have risen from $400 million to just under $700 million. Its 2013 projected earnings are about $800 million.

 

Bausch + Lomb’s businesses are pharmaceuticals, vision care and surgical. About 40% of its sales come from North America, 33% from Europe and the rest from Asia and Latin America. Its Canadian head office is located in Vaughan, Ontario.

Source:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-03/abbott-j-j-sanofi-said-to-show-interest-in-bausch-lomb-bid.html