News Blinks — September 30, 2016

Here’s a quick look at some industry news you may have missed this week.

• Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology have received a major five-year funding research award of £19 million for eye research from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
• With Halloween around the corner, the American Academy of Ophthalmology recently released a consumer-oriented press release warning patients of the risks of wearing contact lenses without a prescription.
• The American Optometric Association (AOA) recently announced legislation had been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would ensure online sellers of contact lenses are held accountable for deceptive, abusive and illegal sales tactics that threaten patient health.
• A study conducted by the Orange County Business Council shows Allergan's California operations have generated a combined annual economic activity in the state of approximately $6.35 billion and net economic impact of $3.45 billion.
• Latham and Phillips Ophthalmic (LPO) Products have recently entered into a partnership with Briot USA that will allow both companies to provide customers with a portfolio of products and services across the full spectrum of optical finishing equipment, classical lane and high-tech ophthalmic equipment.
• SalutarisMD® was recently honored with the AZBio Fast Lane Award by the Arizona Bioindustry Association (AZBio). SalutarisMD is a pre-revenue medical device company developing an investigational ophthalmic treatment for wet age-related Macular Degeneration (wet AMD).
• The Cooper Companies — parent company of CooperVision, Inc. — has joined recently joined Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
• Protective eyewear use by hospital and operating room (OR) staff is decreasing despite an increase in eye-related infection risk, according to scientific research by TIDI Products, LLC presented at the recent 2016 OR Manager Conference in Las Vegas.
• A new study conducted by the University of Phoenix® College of Health Professions School of Health Services Administration says that nearly three out of four (72 percent) U.S. adults are concerned that their online healthcare records are vulnerable to hackers. However, 59 percent are comfortable with healthcare records being transmitted across networks and even across country borders.
• And new research has found doctors many times avoid getting help for depression and other mental illnesses, with two-thirds surveyed citing perceived stigma concerns as the reason.