NEWS NOW!

3D glasses seized from Italian cinemas
An estimated 7,000 pairs of 3D glasses have been confiscated from Italian cinemas because Italy's government considers the items that present a health risk. Italy’s health ministry said it could collect more of the glasses, used to watch 3D films such as the recent blockbuster, Avatar, according to a Reuters report.
Ministry officials said the glasses pose hygiene problems if they are not properly cleaned between screenings. They also did not display tags showing that they had been properly tested to prove they would not present a risk of short-term vision problems to users.

Luxottica and Essilor form joint-venture to manage Eyebiz Rx laboratory
Luxottica Group and Essilor International have formed a joint-venture in the Australian market, it was announced on 8 February.
Under the terms of the agreement, the joint-venture will manage Eyebiz Pty Limited,
Luxottica’s Sydney-based optical-lens-surfacing and fitting laboratory.
Eyebiz will continue to supply all of Luxottica’s retail optical outlets in Australia and New Zealand.

‘Sunnies for Sight Day’ this month
ICEE Sunnies for Sight Day, an initiative of the International Centre for Eyecare Education (ICEE), will be held on 26 February.
The day is an annual event designed for school teachers who want to teach their students about vision, eye care and how kids can join the fight against avoidable blindness.
ICEE invites teachers and children from early learning centres, primary and secondary schools across Australia to participate in ICEE Sunnies for Sight Day.
Participation from schools will help ICEE, in regions around the world, train and education more eye-care professionals and help ICEE develop and build sustainable centres where communities can readily and affordably access 
eye care.

Home AMD monitor receives clearance from FDA
Florida-based Notal Vision’s ‘ForeseeHome’ age-related macular degeneration monitor has received clearance from the United StAtes Food and Drug Administration. The monitor is the first home device cleared by the FDA for the ongoing monitoring of wet AMD. It is capable of transferring eye-examination data to the patient’s eye-care physician as well as to the Notal Vision Data Monitoring Center.
While the monitor is intended for use in detecting visual distortion and monitoring the progression of disease factors such as choroidal neovascularisation in patients with AMD, the device is not indicated as a diagnostic tool and is ineffective among patients who have unstable fixation, according to the company.
The monitor will be available in the US later this year

Health funds want premiums increase
Private health insurance funds are seeking up to 7 per cent increases in the premiums their members pay for cover, adding to pressure on the federal government’s stalled reform plans to cut costs and improve efficiency in the health sector.

The 40 funds are finalizing their applications to the health minister, Ms Nicola Roxon, expected to rule on the applications this month.
Last year the funds were given approval to raise their premiums by an average of 6.02 per cent, following an increase of 6.1 per cent over the five years before – well above the level of inflation.
There is a possibility that the government will decide to save $1.9 billion over four years by means testing the 30 per cent private health insurance rebate, however the enabling legislation has yet to be passed by parliament, being voted down by he Senate late last year.

HAL interested in buying Safilo’s retail interests here: reports
The Dutch fund HAL Investments NV is interested in acquiring 327 retail optical stores owned by Italy’s Safilo Group in Australia, Spain, Mexco, the United States and China rather than in taking a stake in Safilo itself, Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper said in an unsourced report.
The share price of Safilo Group increased by more than 10 per cent after the Il Sole 24 Ore and other newspapers reported Netherlands’ Hal Investments interest in the 327shops.

Opposition health spokesman loses pre-selection
The federal opposition spokesman on health, Mr Peter Dutton, who has been regarded as a future leader of the Liberal Party, failed in his bid for pre-selection for the Queensland Gold Coast seat of McPherson.
Mr Dutton at present holds the Brisbane seat of Dickson, which has been made notionally a Labor seat in he recent electorate redisrribution. He ousted Labor MP Ms Cheryl Kernot at the 200 election.
There is speculation that he may be ‘parachuted’ into another seat because of his regard within the Liberal Party.

Specsavers posts 15.7% sales increase in 2008-09 year
Specsavers posted a record 15.7 per cent increase in turnover for the financial year March 2008 to February 2009, claiming its growth was due to “customers voting with their feet” during the credit crunch.
Sales for the whole company were £1.2 billion ($A2.34 billion) and were £50.2 million in Australia ($A97.9 million).
Overall, the company sold 11.5 million pairs of spectacles, an average of about $150 each.

Request for OCT Medicare benefit rejected by advisory committee
The Federal Medical Services Advisory Committee has determined there is “currently insufficient evidence to recommend public funding of optical coherence tomography for the assessment of macular disease.”
According to the Macular Degenration Foundation, OCT forms an essential part of the assessment of patients with wet macular degeneration and has been used in clinical practice in Australia for over five years, and is an important diagnostic tool that provides high-resolution imaging of the retina and is used all over the world and accepted as a standard and necessary test.
The MDF has written to the federal health minister, Ms Nicola Roxon, requesting that the issue of Medicare funding of optical coherence tomography be urgently reviewed.

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