GOLDEN, CO - Novelty contact lenses -- from cat's eyes to sports team logos -- are now the rage among teenagers, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning recently telling consumers about the serious risks of permanent eye injury from unprescribed, mass-produced lenses. The warning was issued on October 21, 2002.
"I'm not sure why the FDA hadn't taken action earlier on this health issue," says Stan Harper, CEO of Adventures In Color Technology, a former president of the Contact Lens Society of America in an October 27, 2002 interview with the Fredericksburg, Va, Free Lance-Star. "The real source of the trouble is sharing contacts. First Mary wants to try them on, and then the next person tries them on. They don't get disinfected."
According to the FDA's warning: "Decorative contact lenses present significant risks of blindness and other eye injury if they are distributed without a prescription or without proper fitting by a qualified eye care professional.
"Other risks associated with use of decorative contact lenses include conjunctivitis (an infection of the eye); corneal edema (swelling); allergic reaction; corneal abrasion from poor lens fit; and reduction in visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and other visual functions."
In addition to prosthetic/therapeutic applications, Harper's company creates custom contact lenses for theatrical use and custom novelty lenses for personal use. However, all of Adventures' lenses are individually prescribed, designed and fitted by a licensed eye care practitioner.
According to the Fredericksburg paper, the biggest problem to overcome is that teens think the mass-produced, novelty contacts are cool. "I guess that falls in the same area as piercing your tongue or your nose," Harper said in the newspaper interview. "I think they want to appear different than the one next door. I think they want to be a little bit outstanding."
Adventures In Color Technology, Ltd., serves eye care practitioners both in private practice and at teaching hospitals and universities throughout the world, developing colors and patterns for patients and continuing research for other retinal problems.
Source: Internet Wire