Hydrogen peroxide lens care systems like CIBA Vision’s Clear Care are popular in Canada.

Eye care practitioners in Canada tend to prescribe hydrogen peroxide contact lens care systems more frequently than their counterparts in the United States, according to a new report.

Based on recent AC Nielsen MarketTrack data, hydrogen peroxide systems account for almost 25 percent of the contact lens care market in Canada, compared with 15.9 percent in the United States. Read more…

“The Dangers of Illegal Contacts,” a news video by WSB-TV in Atlanta.

WSB-TV 2 Action News in Atlanta recently uncovered several instances of theatrical contact lenses and other color contacts being sold illegally in the Atlanta area.

One woman, who purchased tinted, non-prescription color contact lenses without a prescription at an Atlanta flea market for about $20, ended up with a serious eye infection requiring medical treatment. Read more…

Online sales of contact lenses without current, verified prescriptions are linked to at least two cases of serious eye damage in British Columbia, according to Canadian optometric organizations.

New regulations enacted by the British Columbia Ministry of Health Services, effective May 1, include provisions that allow purchase of eyeglasses and contact lenses without a prescription.

“Unfortunately, the B.C. government could not have picked a worse time, with an aging population, to disassociate prescriptions from comprehensive eye exams,” Antoinette Dumalo, OD, president of the B.C. Association of Optometrists (BCAO), told Contact Lens Headlines in October. Read more…

In a move that has drawn fire from optometrists and opticians, the British Columbia Ministry of Health Services has enacted regulatory changes that allow consumers in the Canadian province to buy contact lenses online without having to provide a copy of a valid contact lens prescription.

The new changes to regulations for optometrists and opticians under the Health Professions Act include:

• Removal of restrictions that allow only optometrists or opticians, or workers supervised by them, to dispense eyeglasses and contact lenses.
• Permission for prescriptions issued by ophthalmologists and optometrists outside British Columbia (B.C.) to be filled within the province.
• Permission for consumers to order glasses or contacts online without having to provide the seller with a copy of a valid prescription for eyeglasses or contact lenses.
• A new requirement for opticians and optometrists to include the measured distance between the patient’s pupils (pupil distance, or PD) on their eyeglasses prescription. (This measurement is required for the proper fitting of eyeglasses by a third party.)

The new regulations also require B.C. optometrists to give their patients a copy of their contact lens prescription (whether or not it is requested by the patient) and also to give a copy of the prescription, free of charge, to a third-party eyewear seller if requested by the patient.

The revised regulations, which went into effect on May 1, are opposed by the British Columbia Association of Optometrists (BCAO).

In voicing the organization’s concerns about the new regulations, Dr. Antoinette Dumalo, president of the BCAO, said, “Allowing people to buy contacts online without having to prove they have a (valid) prescription is like allowing patients to keep ordering medicine from an old prescription without ever having to go back to their doctor to have a check-up on their condition or to make sure the treatment is still appropriate.”

Dr. Dumalo also said the new regulations may mean fewer people will have regular eye exams, increasing the risk that sight-threatening eye diseases will go undetected.