Regulatory/Legislative News

As health care reform evolves, problems, barriers and new challenges continue to arise. Although the Affordable Care Act was written and developed to improve access to wellness-based care, the implementation of the law has encountered a large number of obstacles to improving the health of the nation.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved use of VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies’ implantable miniature telescope in a younger group of patients than was previously approved, according to a company press release.

In the past week, Primary Care Optometry News has welcomed two new bloggers to Healio: Gary L. Morgan, OD, and Agustin L. Gonzalez, OD.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Rayner Intraocular Lenses Limited 510(k) clearance for the company’s new injector, RaySert Plus, according to a company press release. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted priority review of Lucentis for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, according to a Genentech press release.

The Council on Optometric Practitioner Education Advisory Committee shared ideas for improving the accreditation process during its first meeting in September, according to the Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry, which established the committee.

From international law firm Arnold & Porter LLP comes a timely column that provides views on current regulatory and legislative topics that weigh on the minds of today’s physicians and health care executives.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Iluvien for the treatment of diabetic macular edema in patients previously treated with corticosteroids who did not have a significant increase in IOP, Alimera Sciences announced in a press release.

Primary Care Optometry News reporters attended Vision Expo West in Las Vegas last week and collected the latest news in ophthalmic technology, treatment strategies and health care reform.

Growing up in the middle of the last century, I was fascinated by the discovery and invention of new things that changed the world. As a young lad working in my dad’s optometry office, we often ate lunch at the Edison Inn. This little hotel was reported to be the first building in the world to be illuminated by Thomas Edison’s electric light. I often wondered what it would have been like to witness the first light bulb. More to the point of this blog, what would it have been like to be the first person to hear the electric clicks of a radio or a voice on the first telephone? I was sure that it would have been obvious to every person at that time that these little inventions would change the world.