The FYidoctors network of optometrists and VSP Vision Care Canada have formed a joint venture partnership with the goal of selling eye care insurance programs to Canadian employers.

 

FYidoctors and VSP have 50/50 ownership of the new enterprise. VSP will market and sell the insurance programs to Canadian employers and will administer them. Covered employees will be able to access eye care from optometrists in the FYidoctors network or in Vision Source Canada franchise locations. FYidoctors acquired the Canadian division of Vision Source in October 2013.

 

Currently, approximately 270 optometrists service 108 practices affiliated with FYidoctors, and 160 others service Vision Source Canada franchise locations.

 

“The landscape of Canadian health care, and optometry more specifically, is changing rapidly, and we must remain relevant to our patients,” said Alan Ulsifer, founder and CEO of FYidoctors. “A more competitive and saturated market is making it more necessary to develop a value proposition, and ultimately grow market share.”

 

Pat McNeil, VSP Global’s corporate communications director, estimates that, in the next 18–24 months, this program could cover 100,000 patients.

 

Sources:

http://www.visionmonday.com/latest-news/article/fyidoctors-and-vsp-vision-care-canada-form-joint-venture-partnership-1/

http://www.eyewiretoday.com/view.asp?20131220-ge_carecredit_to_refund_341_million_to_consumers

 

 

Japanese researchers have shown that a type of protein found in stem cells can reverse, and even prevent, retinal damage related to repetitive exposure to UV rays…in mice.

 

The researchers determined that a single injection of adipose-derived stem cells reduced the retinal damage induced by light exposure in mice. Even more important, their research revealed that progranulin, a protein found in these stem cells, could play a key role in protecting against light-induced eye damage.

 

“Recent studies have demonstrated that bone marrow-derived stem cells protect against central nervous system degeneration with limited results,” say the authors of the article, published in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine. “Just like the bone marrow stem cells, adipose-derived stem cells also self-renew and have the ability to change, or differentiate, as they grow. But since they come from fat, they can be obtained more easily under local anesthesia and in large quantities.”

 

The authors say that progranulin could become a potential target for the treatment of degenerative diseases such as AMD and retinitis pigmentosa.

Source:

http://eyewiretoday.com/view.asp?20131202-protein_found_in_fat-derived_stem_cells_could_halt_age-related_retinal_damage

 http://stemcellstm.alphamedpress.org/content/early/2013/11/13/sctm.2013-0020.abstract?sid=d770afa6-f248-4f50-8e69-2ae253817850

 

During the holiday season, we invite you to review the important events in our industry over the past year – click on the Retrospective tab. We brought it all into two parts, each covering six months, the first being December 23 and the second on December 30. ClipInfo.ca will be back on January 6, 2014. “Season’s greetings!”

 

French scientist Daniel Aberdam has successfully restored corneal cells using hair cells.

 

Thanks to this feat, which took ten years to accomplish, the French Académie des sciences awarded him the 2013 Grand Prix Fondation Générale de Santé for cell therapy and regenerative medicine. Under the direction of Daniel Aberdam, the scientists from the stem cell research lab at Inserm, Paris, took a hair sample to be cultured. They deprogrammed the hair cells and reprogrammed them to grow corneal cells.

 

Now it’s just a question of seeing whether it’s possible to repair the cornea in certain patients by transplanting these cells, to restore their sight. “If we take hair from a patient and produce cornea cells from that patient, we will see almost no immune rejection,” says Daniel Aberdam. “However, if we take cells from another person, we may see a rejection, but it will be extremely limited, since the cornea is an immune protected site.”

 

Such a method would go a long way in helping resolve the problem of a lack of corneas. About 42 million people worldwide are on waiting lists for corneal transplants.

Sources:

http://www.acuite.fr/articles.asp?REF=9194

http://www.israelscienceinfo.com/medecine/inserm-technion-le-dr-daniel-aberdam-ete-recompense-pour-ses-travaux-sur-des-cellules-souches-ips-partir-de-cheveux-et-pour-son-avancee-dans-la-decouverte-dune-molecule-medicament-appelee-prima

 

If it passes, the French government’s draft law on consumer issues may have strong repercussions in the optical industry.

 

The French government has been upfront: the stated objective of the draft law, which is currently in its second reading in the National Assembly, is to get French people to save by expanding the distribution of lenses and contact lenses, namely to e-commerce. According to Benoît Hamon, Minister for the Economy and Finance, Internet sales of optical products would represent “about a billion euros in purchasing power” for the French people. The minister expects prices to drop by 30 to 40 percent.

 

An amendment to the draft law asks that the initial dispensing of corrective lenses and contact lenses be subject to a medical prescription. Another amendment requires that the pupillary distance be indicated on the prescription in order to encourage the development of the online sale of eyewear. Furthermore, consumers would be able to purchase contact lens care products in supermarkets—not just in pharmacies.

 

The French government justifies this new draft law by saying that, in all of Europe, the French people spend the most on eyewear and contact lenses—$118 (81 euros) a year. Nearly three million French people do not purchase glasses because they are too expensive.

 

Sources:

http://www.acuite.fr/articles.asp?REF=9195

http://www.leparisien.fr/laparisienne/sante/vente-par-internet-de-produits-d-optique-un-gain-d-un-milliard-d-euros-selon-hamon-09-12-2013-3392357.php