2022 year in review: Escaping the pandemic with success
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It has been a joy to see the COVID pandemic coming to a close, with many of my colleagues and I going back to live meetings, sharing pearls, and making our personal and eye care practices flourish again.
After completing my 100th Premium Channel column and celebrating with the Healio/Ocular Surgery News team at the recent Hawaiian Eye meeting in Koloa, I realized what an honor it has been to keep telling my story with this column, especially as we escape the pandemic. As always, my year in review consists of my top 10 industry headlines and personal triumphs experienced in 2022 and early 2023.
No. 10: Verséa released its new three-layered dry amniotic tissue, Biovance 3L, designed for ocular surface purposes. It is fully absorbable with or without a bandage contact lens, bidirectional and easy to manipulate, and comfortable for patients with no outer ring, and it outperformed cryopreserved human amniotic membrane and dehydrated human amniotic membrane in a benchtop study in terms of human ocular epithelial cell viability, human ocular cell adhesion and human ocular epithelial cell proliferation rate.
No. 9: Bausch + Lomb’s recent announcement of its acquisition of AcuFocus and the Apthera IC-8 IOL adds to our presbyopia-correcting IOL options by providing small-aperture technology at the true nodal point of the eye. Its extended depth of focus (EDOF) solution delivers monofocal-like contrast sensitivity. It can correct up to 1.5 D of corneal astigmatism and is indicated for monovision by placing the IOL in the nondominant eye. Future uses may apply to keratoconus and other irregular astigmatic eyes, such as those with previous radial keratotomy and/or other corneal scars.
No. 8: Johnson & Johnson Vision introduced its Tecnis Symfony OptiBlue all-purpose EDOF IOL powered by InteliLight Technology. The new echelette design, violet-light filtering and achromatic technology help reduce light scattering and eliminate almost all night driving vision disturbances.
No. 7: The FDA accepted a new drug application from Ocuphire Pharma for Nyxol (phentolamine ophthalmic solution 0.75%) for the reversal of pharmacologically induced mydriasis produced by adrenergic agonist (eg, phenylephrine) or parasympatholytic (eg, tropicamide) agents or a combination thereof. The NDA is supported by positive FDA study results in more than 600 subjects in the MIRA-2 and MIRA-3 phase 3 pivotal trials, demonstrating statistically significant superiority of Nyxol compared with placebo to rapidly return dilated eyes to their baseline pupil diameter as early as 60 minutes and 90 minutes. Nyxol also showed a favorable safety and tolerability profile across all trials.
No. 6: RxSight continues to grow as one of the leading presbyopia-correcting IOL options with its Light Adjustable Lens (LAL) and ActivShield technology. The LAL has become my No. 1 go-to presbyopia-correcting IOL due to its LASIK-like visual outcomes, achieving 92.1% vs. 74% of eyes within 0.5 D of intended sphere correction and 82.4% vs. 63% of eyes within 0.5 D of intended cylinder correction. The placebo group was comparable with monofocal toric IOLs commonly used in the U.S. The LAL has provided great patient satisfaction and “good chair time” postoperatively as each visit achieves a happier outcome through to the final lock-in treatment.
No. 5: Patricia M. Morris, COE, a premier consultant in ophthalmology with 30 years of management experience, has time and time again saved the day for my practice and many others by increasing clinic efficiencies, improving marketing strategies and business decision-making processes, enhancing billing and collection efforts, and instilling overall confidence in staff and physicians. She can be reached at https://4pmcoe1.com.
No. 4: Once again, I could not write this column without the support of the Healio/OSN team of editors, and they are always in my top 10. In these pages, my monthly column will transition to a quarterly premium update in technology and innovation.
No. 3: I am honored to be the proud father of two professional esports sons and players in the Smite and League of Legend worlds of computer gaming. My son @Lourlo is one of the top laners and top streamers for Team Liquid in League and continues to improve the streaming process for younger players. My other son @Arorthechunk led his Smite team the Titans back to the finals of the world championship played at the largest esports arena in the United States in Arlington, Texas, in January after upsetting the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the world as the seventh seed. It was an amazing run, and he continues to better his team as his new team, the Styx Ferrymen, go for another championship in 2023.
No. 2: For all the companies that I cannot mention in this top 10, I have not forgotten any of you. For all the pharmacological and surgical advances in our eye space that many premium surgeons and I use daily, we cannot be more grateful for continued support and progress. For example, the new Zeiss Quatera 700 phacoemulsification system is a prime improvement in surgical efficiency in cataract surgery. Théa acquired Akorn’s line of branded pharmaceutical products so many of our common daily glaucoma treatments have stayed viable for our patients. Myze is a web-based dry eye product platform in which doctors receive their own virtual storefront (along with a personalized URL, QR code and product information sheets) that provides patients a one-stop shop for the monthly delivery of quality over-the-counter-based daily eye care routines, education and ongoing engagement. The value of this to providers is that we do not have to spend time or money or allocate resources for these functions. Myze provides it all to doctors at zero out-of-pocket costs, and doctors gain incremental revenue streams, increased chair time and added confidence in helping to ensure patients achieve the best possible outcomes. The EVO ICL (STAAR Surgical) is the newest Collamer phakic implantable lens for myopia and astigmatism correction, and its newest design obviates the need for preoperative peripheral iridotomies. Lastly, the FDA accepted a new drug application from Visiox Pharma for a once-daily brimonidine treatment for glaucoma.
No. 1: As expected, my professional career as DJMJ flourished in 2022, having performed live in the biggest, most prestigious nightclubs in Chicago (Tao, Prysm, LiqrBox, No.9, Fame, Sound-Bar, Blüm), with the most recent dream news that I will be opening for the famous DJ and producer Zedd in Las Vegas in April at the nightclub Zouk. My #idid theme will live on through 2023, letting all my friends, family, industry and colleagues know to “never say I wish but say I did,” like my younger brother made me promise him before he passed 4 years ago.
In summary, it has been a pleasure to communicate through my Premium Channel column to all my fellow surgeons and industry leaders. Remember never to let your dreams die, and continue with innovation, education and communication. See you all in the hallways of the next live meeting as we have officially escaped the pandemic.
- Reference:
- Lundström M, et al. J Cataract Refractive Surg. 2021;doi:10.1097/j.jcrs.0000000000000457.
- For more information:
- Mitchell A. Jackson, MD, of Jacksoneye in Lake Villa, Illinois, can be reached at mjlaserdoc@msn.com.
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