BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (MedPage Today) -- A law that mandates vision screening for Florida drivers 80 and older was associated with lower car-crash fatality rates, but the reasons may not be vision-related, a study found.

PHILADELPHIA (MedPage Today) -- In patients with diabetes, the angiotensin receptor blocker candesartan (Atacand) had no effect on the development of microalbuminuria, a post hoc analysis showed.

PHILADELPHIA (MedPage Today) -- For patients with early age-related macular degeneration, impaired night vision is a risk factor for progression to advanced disease, researchers here found.

TEHRAN (MedPage Today) -- Using two types of lasers together to remove leg hair is no better than treatment with each type alone, researchers here said.

PHILADELPHIA (MedPage Today) -- Children with convergence insufficiency improved significantly more with office-based treatment plus home reinforcement compared with home-based or placebo office therapy, investigators here reported.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (MedPage Today) -- Thyroid disorders may modestly increase risk of glaucoma, researchers found.

ATLANTA (MedPage Today) -- Idiopathic intracranial hypertension, although more common in women, is twice as likely to cause severe vision loss in men, researchers found.

LONDON (MedPage Today) -- Some cases of age-related macular degeneration may arise from a combination of low plasma levels of antioxidants and exposure to blue light from the sun, a multi-national European study suggested.

SOUTHAMPTON, England (MedPage Today) -- Variants in a single gene cut susceptibility to age-related macular degeneration by up to a half, revealing more about a possible pathway to disease activation, investigators here reported.

LONDON (MedPage Today) -- Daily disposable lenses and silicone hydrogel contacts -- introduced in the '90s to counter infections -- have not done the job, but leaving contacts in overnight is still the greatest risk factor for disease, researchers said.

BALTIMORE (MedPage Today) -- The standard eye test for detecting amblyopia in infants and toddlers, fixation preference testing, is unreliable and its clinical use should be reconsidered, researchers here said.

LONDON (MedPage Today) -- An angiotensin receptor blocker may help prevent retinopathy in type 1 diabetes or treat it in type 2 disease, researchers here concluded from three international randomized trials.

SAN DIEGO (MedPage Today) -- The "dry" form of age-related macular degeneration may have a viral etiology, researchers here said.

ATLANTA (MedPage Today) -- Nearly 70% of Americans with private health insurance receive annual eye care for their vision problems, according to a cross-sectional survey.

BETHESDA, Md. (MedPage Today) -- About half of all U.S. adults have clinically significant refractive error in vision, according to federal survey data.

The GOC today announced that the annual retention fee for 2009/10 is rising from £169 to £219. This is the first time in four years that the cost of GOC registration has gone up. The new fee amount was agreed by Council at its November meeting, and applies to the next retention period, which runs from 1 April 2009 - 31 March 2010.

Members bid farewell to Council chairman Council met on 20 November 2008 at the Durrants Hotel, London. The meeting was Rosie Varley's last as chairman, having served in the role for ten years. During a brief farewell address Rosie welcomed recent moves toward collaborative working within optics, citing joint working between the Association of Optometrists (AOP) and the Federation of Ophthalmic Dispensing Opticians (FODO); and the RNIB and Action for Blind People.

Just over 11 million NHS sight tests took place in England in 2007-08, nearly 1.4 million more than in 2002-03, new figures from The NHS Information Centre show. The report, General Ophthalmic Services, Activity Statistics for England and Wales, Year Ending 31 March 2008, also shows there were nearly 330,000 of these sight tests at a patients' home or residential home in 2007-08, 75,000 (29.3 per cent) more than in 2002-03.

Second Sight® Medical Products, Inc., the leading developer of retinal prostheses for the blind, announced that it will increase patient enrollment for the ArgusTM II Retinal Implant study throughout clinical trials sites within Europe. The three-year feasibility study is currently underway in the United States, Europe and Mexico for people with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), a genetic eye disease that causes blindness.

"More than in any preceding year," says Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF) President and CEO Thomas M. Brunner, "there is a heightened sense of anticipation around the annual Research Overview by the four principal investigators of the GRF-funded Catalyst For a Cure (CFC) research consortium that opens GRF's 31st Anniversary Benefit and Celebration at 5 pm, Wednesday, January 28, 2009, in San Francisco's legendary Palace Hotel.

Delcath Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: DCTH), a medical technology company testing its proprietary liver cancer treatment for melanoma metastatic to the liver, announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") granted to Delcath two orphan-drug applications for the drug melphalan. Delcath was granted designations of the drug melphalan for the treatment of patients with cutaneous as well as ocular melanoma.

REGENERX BIOPHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (AMEX:RGN) announced today that its ophthalmic drug candidate, RGN-259, was used to treat four neurotrophic keratitis patients with non-healing eye ulcers caused primarily by the herpes zoster virus under a "Compassionate Use" IND (Investigational New Drug application). RGN-259 is a sterile eye drop formulation of Tβ4 being developed by RegeneRx for use in treating ophthalmic wounds and related disorders. Dr.

The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has been formally notified by Novagali Pharma S.A. of its decision to withdraw its application for a centralised marketing authorisation for the medicine Vekacia (ciclosporin) 0.05% eye drops. Vekacia was expected to be used for the treatment of vernal keratoconjunctivitis. Vekacia was designated as an orphan medicine on 6 April 2006.

Researchers are investigating microneedles, nanoparticles and polymer carriers as potential new techniques to combat the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness in the United States, according to a report from the Third Annual ARVO/Pfizer Ophthalmics Research Institute Conference. The report (http://www.iovs.

Lpath, Inc. (OTCBB: LPTN) today announced that the laboratory of Peter Campochiaro, MD at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine(1) recently published peer-reviewed findings of a research study of iSONEP(TM), Lpath's Phase 1 anti-S1P antibody, demonstrating promising results in various animal models of ocular disorders. The findings of the study appeared online ahead of print in the

Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued two new patents covering the Company's two lead clinical compounds. US Patent number 7,423,144 relates to INO-8875, in clinical development as a novel treatment for glaucoma and US Patent number 7,432,369 relates to INO-4885, in clinical development for the prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy.

ThromboGenics NV (Euronext Brussels: THR), a biotechnology company focused on eye disease, vascular disease and cancer, announces promising six month follow-up results from its Phase IIb MIVI III trial, which was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of microplasmin in vitrectomy. The results were presented at the American Academy of Ophthalmology in Atlanta, USA, by Dr.

Based on its recent analysis of the ocular drug delivery market, Frost & Sullivan recognized EyeGate Pharma with the 2008 North American Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation of the Year Award in Ocular Drug Delivery.

Lpath, Inc. (OTCBB: LPTN) today announced that the laboratory of Peter Campochiaro, MD at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine(1) recently published peer-reviewed findings of a research study of iSONEP™, Lpath's Phase 1 anti-S1P antibody, demonstrating promising results in various animal models of ocular disorders. The findings of the study appeared online ahead of print in the Journal of Cellular Physiology (

Tens of thousands of people with severe vision loss are set to benefit after the announcement today of a landmark partnership of world-leading Australian research institutes. Bionic Vision Australia will pursue the development of the most technologically advanced bionic eye to improve the sight of people with degenerative or inherited retinal disease.

Soft contact lens wear does not result in clinically significant acceleration in the development of nearsightedness in children and does not cause relevant increases in axial length or corneal curvature, a new study shows. Findings from the three-year study, the largest randomized trial of its kind, appear in the November issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, the official journal of The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

Soft contact lens wear does not result in clinically significant acceleration in the development of nearsightedness in children and does not cause relevant increases in axial length or corneal curvature, a new study shows. Findings from the three-year study, the largest randomized trial of its kind, appear in the November issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, the official journal of The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

Strong turnout and a robust scientific program marked the largest and most comprehensive ophthalmic educational meeting in the world, the American Academy of Ophthalmology's (Academy) 2008 Joint Meeting in conjunction with the European Society of Ophthalmology (SOE), held in Atlanta November 8 to November 11. Preliminary figures for attendance at the meeting were approximately 22,000.

The scientific program of the 2008 Joint Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (Academy) and European Society of Ophthalmology (SOE) included a clinical study of a promising new treatment for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). ROP is often difficult to resolve using current treatments and can result in permanent, severe visual impairment in premature infants when treatment is unsuccessful.