By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Friday, October 25, 2024 8:30 AM
Halloween is around the corner, and it’s the perfect time to remind patients about the importance of vision safety, especially since many party goers and trick or treaters will be opting to wear contact lenses to round out their costumes. While the month is well known for the spooky holiday, October is also contact lens safety awareness month, which gives ECPs a perfect opportunity to educate their patients about the dangers of wearing costume contact lenses without a prescription. To ensure patients' eyes are protected, ECPs and government agencies are stepping up their education efforts and resources, so patients can fully understand the dangers of using decorative contact lenses.
By Daniel Breeman, Sarah McGoldrick
Friday, October 11, 2024 8:30 AM
While residents of Florida braced for back-to-back devastating storms from Hurricanes Helene and Milton over the past few weeks, the optical community was busy taking steps to provide disaster relief to those affected by the natural disasters. Hurricane Helene’s devastation was felt primarily across six states, with more than 200 deaths reported from Florida to Tennessee. The death toll and damage from Hurricane Milton, which hit a major swath of Florida this past week, is still being assessed.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Friday, September 13, 2024 8:30 AM
Fall will officially arrive on September 22, heralding the beginning of the conference and trade show season. As the business travel season begins and people start to gather in large numbers indoors, the risk of getting infected with influenza (flu), COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) increases. So what’s a trade show attendee to do? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a new national campaign to inform the public about common respiratory viruses and available vaccines. The campaign, aptly titled
Risk Less. Do More., aims to increase the awareness of vaccines that reduce serious illness and limit the spread of these viruses among all Americans, HHS said.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Friday, August 16, 2024 8:30 AM
Healthy Aging Month is almost here, and with it comes calls for those over 65 years old to get a thorough eye exam. As people age, several vision health concerns begin to emerge such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and cataracts. Not only can these vision problems lead to loss of sight, but they can also make day-to-day activities more difficult. According to the
BrightFocus Foundation, macular degeneration is a leading cause of vision loss in Americans 60 years of age and older. As the senior population continues to grow, the number of older patients requiring vision care for common ailments will also begin to rise.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Friday, July 26, 2024 8:30 AM
August is Children's Eye Health & Safety Month, and eyecare providers and eye health organizations are taking steps to ensure parents and caregivers are aware of the risks. According to the
International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, there are more than 1.4 million children globally under the age of 14 with blindness. Additionally, 22.6 million children suffer from moderate to severe sight loss, and 46.6 million children from mild sight loss. The agency noted that 40 percent of children are blind from eye conditions that could have been prevented.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Sunday, July 21, 2024 1:59 AM
Alaska has beckoned innovative and strong-minded individuals to set up businesses for centuries. Renowned for its outdoorsy ruggedness and beauty, in recent years it has also become a hub for technological advancement and an entrepreneurial-friendly place to start a business. With a keen understanding of an underserved Alaskan eyeglasses market, Robert Wiktorowicz, chief operations officer at Anchorage-based Custom Eye Lab Inc., and his business partner, optometrist Charles Vojta, set up the only full-service, independent prescription lab in the state.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Sunday, July 21, 2024 1:58 AM
CLEARWATER, Fla.—More than 55 customers and industry partners gathered here in April for three days of education and networking at the annual Ocuco www.ocuco.com Innovations User Group Meeting (UGM). The meeting featured nearly 30 workshops and presentations including Innovations and Lablink Development Road Maps, Strategies to Enhance Online Presence, and Specialized Personnel Recruitment.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Thursday, May 30, 2024 8:30 AM
With the summer months approaching, there are lots of reasons to celebrate, and one of the most popular ways to do so is with fireworks. Before lighting up the night sky, however, it is important to take the right precautions to avoid injuries, especially injuries to the eyes. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s
2022 Fireworks Annual Report, there were more than 10,000 injuries and 11 deaths that year resulting from firework injuries. Today,
VMAIL Weekend takes a look at why fireworks are so dangerous and how ECPs can educate their patients about staying safe this summer season.
By Sarah McGoldrick
Thursday, May 23, 2024 8:10 AM
Reducing the impact of climate change has found what, some might say, is an unusual group of advocates. SCI Cambridge Springs, located south of Erie, Penn., is a minimum-security Department of Corrections facility for women that is also home to a 1,800 square-foot optical lab that adopted a lens recycling program in 2020, designed to reduce the amount of waste generated by lens manufacturing.
By Sarah McGoldrick
Sunday, May 12, 2024 12:54 AM
With more than four million pairs of eyeglasses thrown away each year, efforts to reduce the environmental impact and create more cost-efficiencies have prompted optical industry leaders and innovators to reevaluate how products are made and delivered to consumers.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Friday, May 3, 2024 8:30 AM
A cross-disciplinary team of researchers and doctors at the
University of Waterloo (UW) are developing a new contact lens material that could change the way eyecare providers treat corneal wounds. The team, from the
Centre for Ocular Research and Education (CORE), located within the School of Optometry & Vision Science and the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University, believe the new material, acting as a bandage for corneal wounds, could release drugs in a controlled manner to help the eye heal faster.
By Sarah McGoldrick / Contributing Editor
Sunday, April 14, 2024 2:45 AM
This year, Cherry Optical Lab is marking 25 years as a successful, family-owned, independent optical lab. During that time, the Green Bay, Wisconsin-based wholesaler has established an enviable reputation for its excellent quality of work and forward-looking approach to technology.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Sunday, April 14, 2024 1:54 AM
NEW YORK—Heading into the afternoon sessions and before a break for lunch, Jim Rowan, principal at
Deloitte Consulting LLP, shared his insights into how to weave AI into daily business operations. In his presentation titled, “How to Build an AI Team,” he noted that generative AI is transforming the way the optical industry does business, from diagnostics to managing patient interactions and marketing, suggesting that AI is seemingly making it easier to enhance the patient experience.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Sunday, April 14, 2024 1:53 AM
NEW YORK—One of the greatest challenges businesses face in today’s age of artificial intelligence is finding the right balance between technology and human interaction. Hitting on this equilibrium was the focus of Liza Amlani’s session with her lunch-time presentation titled, “Keeping the Customer In Focus: Clienteling for Retail Eyewear.” As the principal and founder of the
Retail Strategy Group, Amlani has used her experience to help businesses improve profitability and organizational effectiveness by using the latest technology and most provocative retail trends.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Friday, April 5, 2024 8:30 AM
All eyes will be on the sky on Monday, April 8, as North America experiences the first total solar eclipse since 2017. The event will offer sky gazers a chance to experience a total solar eclipse throughout most of the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and will be the last time a solar eclipse will be visible in the contiguous U.S. until 2044. Making sure people view the eclipse safely is the top priority of eyecare specialists and optical industry leaders, who have spent the last few months sharing tips and resources to reduce the chances of eye damage during the event.