Medicine: A Skeptical Eye on Contacts

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Another problem is the availability of the extended-wear lenses in discount optical outlets, which advertise the lenses for as little as $40 (compared with the few hundred dollars charged by most ophthalmologists). But many of these outlets do not give their extended-wear customers adequate instruction on the proper use of the contacts and skimp on the follow-up visits needed to uncover any hidden problems. Says Seymour Besem of the Los Angeles County Optometric Society: "The cost is not the lens; it's the doctor's time."

Responding to the growing number of complaints, the FDA has launched an investigation of extended-wear lenses. Meanwhile, the agency urges users to follow cleaning instructions carefully and not wear the lenses longer than their doctors recommend. Many ophthalmologists are warning consumers not to purchase the lenses from retail outlets or wear them for more than two weeks at a stretch. Minnesota's Doughman has gone even further. His clinic will no longer dispense the lenses for cosmetic use. Until doctors can find out more about the cause of the infections, he explains, "we just feel it is safer not to put any of our patients at risk." --By Christine Gorman. Reported by Barbara Dolan/Chicago and Suzanne Wymelenberg/Boston