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WE'VE MOVED !
The COA has relocated
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34 Shunpike Road
Suite 3 - 165
Cromwell, CT 06416-2453
Voicemail: 860.416.5128
Fax: 860.258.0669
www.CTOpticians.com
Email: CTOpt@aol.com

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Tuesday, June 8
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Tuesday, June 22

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Application Deadline
April 9, 2010
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   Michael DiSanto, a prominent optical educator and friend of the Connecticut Opticians Association, passed away on May 25 after losing his battle with Stage IV pancreatic cancer. No stranger to the optical professionals in Connecticut, Mike spoke here often, most recently at our Super Sunday event in March. 
   He spent much of his career teaching basic and continuing courses to thousands of opticians, optometrists, lab personnel and vendor representatives. His books, TOPS and ABO Review Course have helped hundreds prepare for certification and licensing. Courses he presented at Vision Expo or those sponsored by Transitions Optical, Essilor, Vision-Ease, or various wholesale labs helped so many people better understand their jobs.
   A resident of Hudson, Ohio, he was the past President of the Opticians Association of Ohio, a Master Certified Optician and a graduate of John Carroll University. Mike was an adjunct instructor of the Ophthalmic Dispensing Program at Cuyahoga Community College and Owens Technical College. A recipient of the Beverly Meyers Achievement Award his articles have been published in many trade publications such as Eyecare Business, Review of Optometry, and Refractive Eye care for Ophthalmology. .
   Mike touched so many lives with his incredible wit and methods of teaching. He has left behind a tremendous optical legacy.
   He leaves his wife, Jennifer, his son, Michael Nicholas; his daughters and their husbands, Misty (Robert) and Lindsay (Joseph) and two grandchildren, Carson and Kennedy.

     Clinically significant refractive error affects half of all U.S. adults aged 20 and older, making it the nation's most common condition affecting ocular health, according to an article published in the August issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology.
     Susan Vitale, Ph.D., of the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues assessed data from the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey on 12,010 subjects who had refractive error data.
     The researchers found that age-standardized prevalence of astigmatism, myopia and hyperopia was 36.2 percent, 33.1 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively. In 20- to 39-year-old subjects, the investigators found that myopia was more common in women than men (39.9 percent versus 32.6 percent). In subjects aged 60 and older, they also found that hyperopia and/or astigmatism were more common -- and that myopia was less common -- compared to younger subjects.
     "In a previous study, we estimated the annual direct cost of providing refractive correction to the 100 million people who need it to achieve good vision as exceeding $3.5 billion (not including the costs of identifying those who need refractive correction)," the authors conclude. "Others estimated the economic burden (including indirect costs) of refractive error in those 40 years and older to be $5.5 billion. Accurate, current estimates of the prevalence of refractive error are essential for projecting vision care needs and planning for provision of vision care services to the many people affected."  Source: Modern Medicine.com
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   A retrospective review of the database of the Ophthalmology Institute of Modena from January 1999 to September 2007 was performed to describe a series of bottle cork and cap ocular injuries to report the visual impairment and clinical outcomes observed in 34 cases over eight years. All patients presented with closed-globe injury, and all were caused by bottles containing sparkling wine (white in 24 cases and red in 10 cases).

   The incidence varied between two and six cases a year (average 3.89). Bottle cork and cap injuries represented 11 percent of all injuries admitted to one department in the period considered in the series. Nine patients recovered totally; 22 patients recovered partially; and three patients had a severe visual outcome (lower than Grade 3 according to trauma classification system, BCVA less than 0.2). Five patients needed a surgical procedure. The most frequent ocular lesion was hyphema; the worst was retinal detachment resulting from a giant retinal tear. Two patients suffered very severe visual impairment.

   This is the largest series of bottle cork and cap ocular injuries published to date. This kind of injury is potentially sight-threatening and may lead to severe visual loss in a small percentage of cases. This study highlights the need for preventative measures such as warning labels or devices to regulate cork pressure.    SOURCE: Cavallini GM, Martini A, Campi L, Forlini M. Bottle cork and cap injury to the eye: A review of 34 cases. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 2008; Aug 12 [Epub ahead of print].
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   Millions of Americans have undergone laser eye surgery to correct bad vision, and along with the procedure's popularity something else is coming into focus: its hazards. For the Full Story, Please login to OPTICAL NEWS

The Sunset Law (CGS §§ 2c-1 – 21) was enacted pursuant to the 1976 study of the Committee on the Structure of State Government, known as the Filer Commission, as part of its extensive recommendations. In addition to the reorganization of state government to consolidate over 200 agencies, boards, and commissions into 21 major departments, PA 77-614, § 574 required the Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee to conduct “sunset” evaluations or performance audits of 94 state government entities over a five-year period. The law required PRI to conduct a performance audit to determine “whether there is a public need for the continued existence of an entity or program. ” The committee was authorized to recommend termination, modification, consolidation, or reestablishment of the entities subject to its review.

Under the provisions of the Sunset Law, any reestablished entity was reinstated for five years, when it was to be subject to another sunset review (CGS § 2c-10). The new cycle was scheduled to begin automatically with a July 1, 1985 termination date. However, the Sunset Law has been repeatedly postponed. Since 1985, the Sunset law has been postponed 5 times: 1985, 1990, 19995, 2000, 2003. The current proposal would postpone the law until July 1, 2010.

2007 Proposal

This year, the Program Review and Investigations Committee reported An Act Concerning the Sunset Law (HB 6997, File 100) to the floor. The bill delays for two years the review of all agencies and programs subject to termination under the Sunset Law, moving the first termination date from July 1, 2008 to July 1, 2010. It also requires the committee to study the law, addressing its needs and merits, alternatives, and other methods to measure performance. The committee must report its findings and recommendations by January 15, 2008.

The Board of Examiners for Opticians has been scheduled for termination on July 1, 2008. The Optician's licensing board and twenty-eight other boards and commission have been scheduled for termination on that date as required by the Connecticut Sunset Law, CGS. Chapt 28; Sec. 2c-2b. 

Under the Sunset Law, 78 licensing, regulatory, and other state agencies and programs terminate on set mandates ( during a 3 year period) unless the General Assembly reestablishes them after the Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee conducts a performance audit of each. The committee must review the public need for each entity according to the established criteria and report to the legislature its recommendations for the entity's abolition, reestablishment, modification, or consolidation. 

The Connecticut Opticians Association continues to monitor the progress of the proposal and will certainly keep our members current with its anticipated impact on the Board of Examiners for Opticians. Representatives of the COA continue to speak with legislators and have testified on behalf of all opticians In Connecticut.

The COA needs the support of all optical personal to defend the Board against Sunset. If our licensing Board is deregulated, opticianry in CT will certainly change, or cease to exist.

What's happened in other States? For more information..click here