Sunday, June 26, 2011

Eye flu flares up with rain & humidity

The pre-monsoon showers and high humidity levels have brought with them the season's first infectious ailment — viral conjunctivitis . The outdoor patient departments (OPDs) of city hospitals are seeing a surge in conjunctivitis cases, apart from a rise in the number of patients with fever and respiratory problems. "I have been seeing two to three cases of viral conjunctivitis every day. The patients include a range of age groups, from children to adults. Normally , viral form of conjuctivitis is seen in August when the rains start, but due to high levels of humidity and intermittent rains this year, the cases are being reported early," said Dr Tarun Kapoor, senior consultant , ophthalmology, at Rockland Hospital. He said that one should avoid sharing toiletries and visiting crowded places. "Those travelling by public transport need to be extra careful and schoolchildren should ensure that they do not come in direct contact with infected persons," Kapoor said.

Those allergic to pollen grains, heat and dust — another common cause of conjunctivitis — should wear sunglasses to avoid exposure to the allergic agents, say doctors . "Children with conjunctivitis should not attend school until after 24 hours of starting treatment," said a doctor.
Amit Khanna, a 34-yearold marketing who contracted the disease two days ago, said he felt inflammation in his eyes besides secretion of fluid. "My eyes are hurting badly. I have been asked by the doctor to use anti-viral eye drops," said Khanna. He said his son has also got infected with the disease.
Dr Amit Khosla, senior consultant, ophthalmology, at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital added , "The cases of viral conjunctivitis will increase during the monsoon. Low temperature and wet surfaces are most suitable conditions for the bacteria and viruses that cause the infectious disease . Eyes should not be rubbed with unclean hands and special care needs to be taken by those using swimming pools."
Dr L R Seth, opthalmologist at Apollo Hospital said that self-medication and buying eye drops from pharmacy stores without consulting eye specialists should be avoided.
The symptoms of the disease are blurred vision, crusts that form on the eyelid overnight , eye pain, grit in the eyes, increased tearing, itching and redness in the eyes.

Brookline Ophthalmologist Charged with Tax Evasion

Department of Justice allege that Mark Hughes of Brookline evaded paying about $800,000 in taxes.

Information given to the Department of Justice (DOJ) by the US Attorney, Carmen Ortiz alleges that from 2003 to 2009, Mark Hughes, an ohpthalmologist from Brookline, evaded paying taxes on millions of dollars of income, causing a loss of $800,000.  The DOJ put out a press release about the case, which claims Hughes diverted funds from his ophthalmology practice into a consulting firm called Omega, which he created. Omega allegedly recieved over $2 million in contributions to a defined pension plan.
The release goes on to allege that Hughes knew this money was taxable, and didn't pay taxes on them anyway. Ortiz also alleges that he mislead the IRS in a 2008 audit into Omega, which also earned him an obstruction charge.
If charged, Hughes could spend up to five years in jail, three years on probation, and pay up to $250,000 in fines. If charged with obstruction, that would result in up to three years in prison and also a $250,000 fine
Unless proven guilty, Hughes is presumed innocent.

Healthcare institutes, doctors honoured

The annual Helen Keller Remembrance Day awards organised at Sankara Nethralaya on Saturday saw doctors and hospitals being honoured for their contributions in the field of ophthalmology.
This year’s ‘Dr G Sitalakshmi Gift of Sight Award’ was presented to Dr T K Ramesh, professor of ophthalmology, Government Minto Eye Hospital, Bangalore. The award is given to a corneal surgeon who is rendering selfless service in the field of cornea grafting.
Aruna Oswal, a renowned philanthropist and ‘Multiple District Coordinator’ of Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF), was the chief guest for the ceremony and bestowed the annual award on Dr Ramesh.
As part of the programme, Dr S S Badrinath, chairman emeritus, Sankara Nethralaya, presented ‘Knight of the Blind’ Award to Dr K Sivabalan of KG Eye Hospital, Coimbatore.
Chief guest Aruna while addressing the award-recipients asked them to continue their ‘Karma’ and said the awards would serve as a great source of encouragement to continue with their outstanding work in healthcare.
The ‘I (Eye) Care Award,’ instituted by the Lions Club of Central Madras to recognise eye hospitals which render humane and high quality eye care to the poor and under privileged, was given to M Ram Reddy Lions Eye Hospital, Mahabub, Andhra Pradesh, KG Eye Hospital, Coimbatore and Low Vision Clinic, Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai.

Urgent Warning from Ophthalmologists to Party-Goers this Fourth of July Weekend: Leave Fireworks to the Trained Professionals

Potentially blinding eye injuries top list of hazards from even small backyard sparklers.
 Fireworks can leave you blind or disfigured. They can cause everything from excruciating burns on your cornea to a complete rupture of the eyeball to retinal detachments, eye muscle damage, permanent scarring and traumatic cataracts. And, most importantly, these injuries can almost always be avoided.
Ophthalmologists at Wills Eye Institute in Philadelphia are preparing again for what is expected to be the busiest time of the year for emergency room visits due to fireworks injuries.
Last year, in just one month, fireworks sent over 6,000 people nationwide to emergency rooms with injuries, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Many of those injuries were eye related.  "The public needs to know that even small sparklers can cause devastating eye injuries and burns," said Julia A. Haller, MD, ophthalmologist-in-chief at Wills Eye.  "When they burn at 2,000 degrees, these innocent looking sparklers or other small fireworks can quickly damage your eyesight and forever change your life," she added.
Wills Eye Institute urges people to keep a safe distance from fireworks – staying at least 500 feet away – to not touch unexploded fireworks, but instead contact your local police or fire department, to wear appropriate eye protection when in doubt, and to seek medical help immediately if you are injured.
About Wills Eye Institute
Wills Eye Institute is a global leader in ophthalmology, established in 1832 as the nation's first hospital specializing in eye care. U.S. News & World Report has consistently ranked Wills Eye as one of America's top three ophthalmology centers since the survey began in 1990. Wills Eye is a premier training site for all levels of medical education. Its resident and post-graduate training programs are among the most competitive in the country. One of the core strengths of Wills is the close connection between innovative research and advanced patient care. Wills provides the full range of primary and subspecialty eye care for improving and preserving sight, including cataract, cornea, retina, emergency care, glaucoma, neuro-ophthalmology, ocular oncology, oculoplastics, pathology, pediatric ophthalmology and ocular genetics, refractive surgery and retina. Ocular Services include the Wills Laser Correction Center, Low Vision Service, and Diagnostic Center. Its 24/7 Emergency Service is the only one of its kind in the region. Wills Eye also has a network of nine multi-specialty, ambulatory surgery centers throughout the tri-state area. To learn more, please visit www.willseye.org.

Nagpur doc's study gets international attention

NAGPUR: Diabetes over a period of time can severely affect vision of a person through an ailment called 'diabetic retinopathy'. Normally ophthalmologists burn retina's leaking blood vessels that cause this disease using lasers. Patients who do not respond to the laser treatment are then injected a drug called 'avastin'. A city eye surgeon Dr Ajay Ambade has now successfully tested a newer two-drug therapy to treat these patients as a part of a scientific study. Normal vision could be restored in about 23% of the patients.

The study recently presented at the Joint Congress of American Academy of Ophthalmology and European Society of Ophthalmology at Geneva received good response from the experts in the field. After about five years of onset of diabetes, most persons suffer vision impairment when fine blood vessels supplying to retina leak due to increase in blood pressure in them. The accumulated blood clots start affecting the vision. In medical terms, condition is called 'residual macular edema'. If untreated, patients can go completely blind.

Urgent Warning from Ophthalmologists to Party-Goers this Fourth of July Weekend: Leave Fireworks to the Trained Professionals

Potentially blinding eye injuries top list of hazards from even small backyard sparklers.

Fireworks can leave you blind or disfigured. They can cause everything from excruciating burns on your cornea to a complete rupture of the eyeball to retinal detachments, eye muscle damage, permanent scarring and traumatic cataracts. And, most importantly, these injuries can almost always be avoided.

Ophthalmologists at Wills Eye Institute in Philadelphia are preparing again for what is expected to be the busiest time of the year for emergency room visits due to fireworks injuries.

Last year, in just one month, fireworks sent over 6,000 people nationwide to emergency rooms with injuries, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Many of those injuries were eye related.  "The public needs to know that even small sparklers can cause devastating eye injuries and burns," said Julia A. Haller, MD, ophthalmologist-in-chief at Wills Eye.  "When they burn at 2,000 degrees, these innocent looking sparklers or other small fireworks can quickly damage your eyesight and forever change your life," she added.

Wills Eye Institute urges people to keep a safe distance from fireworks – staying at least 500 feet away – to not touch unexploded fireworks, but instead contact your local police or fire department, to wear appropriate eye protection when in doubt, and to seek medical help immediately if you are injured.

About Wills Eye Institute

Wills Eye Institute is a global leader in ophthalmology, established in 1832 as the nation's first hospital specializing in eye care. U.S. News & World Report has consistently ranked Wills Eye as one of America's top three ophthalmology centers since the survey began in 1990. Wills Eye is a premier training site for all levels of medical education. Its resident and post-graduate training programs are among the most competitive in the country. One of the core strengths of Wills is the close connection between innovative research and advanced patient care. Wills provides the full range of primary and subspecialty eye care for improving and preserving sight, including cataract, cornea, retina, emergency care, glaucoma, neuro-ophthalmology, ocular oncology, oculoplastics, pathology, pediatric ophthalmology and ocular genetics, refractive surgery and retina. Ocular Services include the Wills Laser Correction Center, Low Vision Service, and Diagnostic Center. Its 24/7 Emergency Service is the only one of its kind in the region. Wills Eye also has a network of nine multi-specialty, ambulatory surgery centers throughout the tri-state area. To learn more, please visit www.willseye.org.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Not necessary that all have an eye for colour

Be it the fiery red, melancholic blue or vibrant yellow, colours are indispensable to life. Instilling emotions, feelings and thoughts, human beings have always assosiated colours with joy, pleasure or grief. After all, visual aesthetics do play an important role in creation, perception and shaping your responses.� Have you ever wondered how different would the world be for those who cannot differentiate between some of the colours? Colour blindness or colour vision deficiency, a condition that came into limelight after John Dalton’s paper on extraordinary facts relating to the vision of colours, can be defined as the decreased ability to perceive differences between some of the colours that others can distinguish. It is often of genetic nature, but may also occur because of some eye, nerve, or brain damage, or exposure to certain chemicals.� Here’s what Dr Kaushik Murali, Consultant Paediatric Ophthalmology, director Nanna Kannu Comprehensive Eye Care Programme for Children, Sankara Eye Hospital has to say about colour blindness in children What is color blindness and what are the different types? Colour blindness is used in colloquial terms to refer to the difficulty in distinguishing colours apart but a more correct term would be colour vision defect. Colour blindness is a misnomer because only a small percentage of people are unable to see any colour. Five to eight per cent of men and 0.5 per cent of women in the world are born colour blind.� The defect can be inherited or acquired. There are three groups of inherited colour vision defects: monochromacy, dichromacy and anomalous trichromacy.� The last two groups are subdivided into red-green and blue-yellow types of defects. Monochromacy-Rod monochromats, or complete achromats, are truly colour blind since they cannot distinguish any hues. Dichromacy is a less severe form of colour defect than monochromacy.� Dichromats can differentiate some hues apart. The ability of anomalous trichromats to distinguish between hues is better than dichromats but still not normal.
What should teachers, school nurses, and parents know about being colour blind? How can they help children? Children may have difficulty especially with close hues. With colour being an integral part of the education system, it becomes important that teachers are aware of the possibility of some of the children having defective colour vision. To maximise contrast it is always better to use a white chalk as opposed to coloured chalks on a dark board. Also, teachers may look to label pictures where the response requires colour determination. Most parents are unaware of their child having a problem as a preventive screening is often not done. It would be ideal to screen the child at one, three and five years of age for visual problems. The colour vision can be tested in all five-year-olds and most three-year- olds.� Can you tell us about the pediatric colour vision test for three to six-year- old children? In children we use a variant of the Ischihara test which is based on an pseudoisochromatic principle. For the non verbals there are patterns that the child can follow. For older folks we prefer the FM 100 hue test which is a more elaborate test and also provides a computer based analysis of the particular colour variants affected and the extent of the same.
How does the world look to someone who is colour deficient? The world is not black and white as most would assume. They do not learn to call red ‘green’ and vice versa. Protanomalous or deuteranomalous individuals can usually pass as a normal observer in everyday activities. They may make occasional errors in colour names, or may encounter difficulties in discriminating small differences in colours, but usually they do not perform very differently from the normal except on colour vision tests. The colour spectrum shifts depending on the colour affected and they may find differentiation especially difficult in dim light.

Signing bonuses become usual part of physician recruitment packages

Signing bonuses for new physicians have become a common hiring incentive, part of what can be lucrative packages for doctors who have just completed their residencies or fellowship training. Newly trained physicians in some highly sought-after specialties can command incentives worth six figures in exchange for their first years of work.
Surveys by the Medical Group Management Assn. and Irving, Texas-based physician placement firm Merritt Hawkins that examined recruiting packages from 2010 show that signing bonuses -- once an incentive offered on occasion for hard-to-fill jobs -- have become the norm.
"Signing bonuses have gone from carrot at the end of the stick to an expected part of the package," said Travis Singleton, senior vice president for Merritt Hawkins. "It's an extreme negative these days if you don't have a signing bonus."
Medical liability insurance, relocation expenses and paid time off for continuing medical education also are common, if not standard, according to the MGMA and Merritt Hawkins reports.
Other types of one-time incentives beyond cash bonuses are emerging, allowing hospitals and physician groups to stand out in a crowded field of potential employers. But bonuses remain a core part of employment offers.
The MGMA report, released in May, was based on responses to a voluntary online survey during 2010 and looked at information on about 4,300 physician placements. Of the 2,971 answers about recruitment packages, 56% reported that signing bonuses were part of the deal.
According to Merritt Hawkins' most recent report, released to American Medical News before its publication this summer, 76% of the jobs for which the firm recruited between April 1, 2010, and March 31, 2011, included a signing bonus. That was stable from the prior year's level but down from the 2008-09 survey year, when 85% of searches included a signing bonus.
Even though the percentage of packages with bonuses was down slightly from a few years ago, the average bonus for the 2010-11 survey year was $23,790, up from $22,915 the prior year.
Singleton said the only time a signing bonus typically is not offered is when a physician is going to a different practice in the same community. In those cases, a doctor often is motivated to move away from one practice and jump to another, and a signing bonus isn't necessary.
Both reports also show continued reliance on other one-time incentives, including loan forgiveness -- the practice of paying off part or all of a new physician's student loans.
Among physicians who responded to the MGMA survey, 12% said their recruitment package included loan forgiveness. Among the last year's searches in the Merritt Hawkins report, 29% had educational loan forgiveness.
New recruiting tools are emerging, as well, Singleton said. Amid a poor housing market, 6% of searches in the last survey year featured a housing allowance for relocating physicians to offset the loss of selling a home for less than the purchase price.
Hospitals and medical groups are searching for new ways to attract young, talented physicians beyond salary, offering perks such as extra pay for weekends spent on-call, said Barry Biagini, founder of physician recruiting firm BJB Medical Associates. The Scottsdale-Ariz.-based agency specializes in ophthalmology placements.
"What we're seeing now is younger physicians, many second-generation physicians, people who come from successful families, who are not necessarily as money-motivated as they are by lifestyle and location," he said. "Everybody is trying to find the right mix of lifestyle and the ability to do the art and craft and science of medicine."

Double Eagle Holdings Adds Former Bayer & Merck Executive to Advisory Board

Double Eagle Holdings, Ltd. (Pink Sheets: DEGH) announced today that Jeanne Hebert – a former sales and marketing executive at Integral Orthopedics, Bayer, and Merck – has joined the company's advisory Board of Directors. Double Eagle Holdings is the parent company of Fuse Science, Inc. (www.fusescience.com), developer of new, patent-pending technologies poised to redefine how consumers receive energy, medicines, vitamins and minerals. Hebert brings more than 20 years sales, marketing and research experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, having worked for leading global manufacturers Bristol-Myers Squibb, Bayer Pharmaceutical, Merck & Co. and Integral Orthopedics Inc.
During her tenure at Merck, she provided direction on science-based content to support Merck's strategic objectives in the Respiratory and Ophthalmology franchises. As a member of the Scientific Advisory Board, she created the scientific platform for the Respiratory Health Science organization. In addition to crafting compelling sales messages from the supporting science, her role involved identifying and engaging thought leaders (leading researchers and academics), in peer-level, scientific discussions to convert them into advocates for Merck's products.
In 2005, Hebert joined Integral Orthopedics as vice president of marketing, shareholder and member of the senior executive team. In this capacity, she advanced product innovation through development and commercialization phases, including work with suppliers on product design and advanced medical prototyping. Hebert led aggressive corporate intellectual property protection via case management, better designs and web protection strategies to strengthen the company's defenses against competition. In her executive capacity, she also designed and initiated Integral Orthopedics' internal and external clinical studies and provided oversight on testing of new products in the company's internal research facility, leading to favorable outcomes and the launch of several new products.
"Jeanne's remarkable track record of bringing products to market quickly and successfully – supported by research and sound science – makes her the ideal choice to help guide our company as we seek to introduce a wide array of new products powered by Fuse Science's groundbreaking technology," said Brian Tuffin, Fuse Science President and Chief Operating Officer. "Her addition is further indication that Fuse has the attention of the scientific community and that the applications of our technology reach far beyond our initial product launches into many multi-billion dollar categories.
"I'm excited to join this team," said Jeanne Hebert. "The opportunity exists to advance this technology in many ways to make a major difference in how consumers purchase and consume products in everything from Energy drinks to Pharmaceuticals. The work ahead must remain deliberate and focused and significant value will follow." Tuffin concluded by saying, "We are committed to realizing this strategy and creating significant long-term shareholder value by building a leadership team that is second to none."
About Double Eagle Holdings
Double Eagle Holdings (Pink Sheets: DEGH) is an innovative consumer products holding company and the parent company of Fuse Science, Inc. Based in Aventura, Florida, Fuse Science is the developer of patent-pending conveyance technologies poised to redefine how consumers receive energy, medicines, vitamins and minerals, delivering their benefits faster and more effectively than ever before. Information about Fuse Science is available online at www.fusescience.com or by calling 305-503-FUSE (3873).
Safe Harbor Statement: Certain statements and information included in this release may constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Federal Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in such statements. Additional discussion of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's projections, estimates and expectations is contained in the company's SEC filings. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or developments, except as required by federal securities laws.