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Lasik Vision Correction -In the News
Colorado Springs & Pueblo, CO
Medicare Ruling Provides Medicare Patients Access to REAL Vision using the new ReSTOR IOL
May 10, 2005
FORT WORTH, Texas--(HSMN NewsFeed)--May 10, 2005--Alcon, Inc. (NYSE:ACL ) announced today that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) clarified its payment rules to present Medicare beneficiaries with the choice to receive presbyopia-correcting intraocular lenses (IOLs) that provide restoration of distance, near, and intermediate vision with less dependency on eyeglasses or contact lenses following cataract surgery.
Prior to the CMS ruling, limitations on Medicare payment prevented beneficiaries from choosing to purchase these lenses. Under the new policy, Medicare will continue existing reimbursement amounts for cataract surgery, and patients may elect to pay additional charges for advanced technology lenses such as the AcrySof® ReSTOR® Apodized Diffractive IOL.
"We applaud CMS for its decision to allow Medicare patients access to new technologies, which provide a high level of spectacle freedom, like the recently approved AcrySof® ReSTOR® IOL," said Cary Rayment, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Alcon, Inc. "Physicians and patients now have the freedom to select technology to treat cataracts consistent with the patient's lifestyle needs." In clinical trials, 80 percent of AcrySof® ReSTOR® patients reported never wearing reading glasses or bifocals following bilateral cataract surgery.
The REAL Vision procedure at Buckley Vision Institute uses the AcrySof® ReSTOR® IOL to help patients with or without cataracts regain their youthful vision by providing close up as well as distance vision without the use of lenses.
About the AcrySof® ReSTOR® IOL
AcrySof® ReSTOR® IOL, the first and only apodized diffractive IOL for cataract patients with and without presbyopia, uses a unique, patented apodized diffractive technology to provide patients with a full range of quality vision (near, intermediate and distance), and greatly reduce their reliance on glasses. This optic design results in an increased range of quality vision that delivers a high level of spectacle freedom. Apodization improves image quality by optimizing light energy delivered to the retina by distributing the appropriate amounts of light to near and distant focal points, regardless of lighting situation. This new IOL is particularly well suited for patients who wish to reduce their dependency on reading glasses and bifocals once their cataractous lens is removed. The AcrySof® ReSTOR® IOL is based on the AcrySof® design and material platform. AcrySof® lenses are the fastest growing and most frequently implanted lenses in the world, with more than 22 million implants since their introduction in the early 1990s. There are approximately three million cataract surgeries performed annually in the United States.
News Archive
March 2005 - Iris Registration System Introduced for LASIK
December 15, 2004 - VISX CustomVue™ Hyperopia Procedure Approved by the FDA
August 02, 2003 - Wavefront expands treatment
June 16, 2003 - FDA Approval for CustomVue™
June 16, 2003 - Exciting News About the VISX Star S4 technology
July 15, 2002 - Article - US News and World Report - Demand More From Your LASIK Surgeon
April 11, 2002 - Article - Army Enthusiastic about LASIK, Begins New Program
March 1, 2002 - Article from Dr. Britt Buckley in the Colorado Springs Business Journal
February 20, 2002 - FDA approves refractive surgery for treatment of all visual error parameters.
April 18, 2001 - Upgrade to the VISX STAR S3 ActiveTrak Excimer Laser System
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