ADVISORY/Dr. Maloney to Perform First FDA Approved Operation for Farsightedness.

--(BW HealthWire)--

WHAT:     First FDA approved operation for farsightedness

          U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use
          of the VISX Excimer Laser Systems for use in the treatment
          of hyperopia between +1.0 D and +6.0 D, or farsightedness
          with up to 1.0 D of astigmatism.  More than 22 percent of
          the U.S. population is hyperopic.

WHO:      Dr. Robert Maloney, nationally renowned refractive eye
          surgeon and founding director of the UCLA Refractive Laser
          Center at the Jules Stein Eye Institute and an associate
          professor of Ophthalmology at the UCLA School of Medicine
          will perform the first FDA approved operation for
          farsightedness with the VISX Excimer Laser Systems.

WHEN:     Wednesday, Nov. 4
          9 a.m. PST

WHERE:    Maloney Vision Institute
          10921 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 900
          Los Angeles, Calif. 90024

CONTACT:  Gemma Cunningham, 949/494-8312

Dr. Maloney of the Maloney Vision Institute, will perform the first FDA approved operation for the use of VISX Excimer Laser Systems for the use in the treatment of hyperopia between +1.0 D and +6.0 D or farsightedness with up to 1.0 D of astigmatism.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 22 percent of the U.S. population is hyperopic. For the first time since the development of contact lenses, millions of Americans can now have hope for virtually perfect eye sight. The first operation of its kind with FDA approval will be performed at the Maloney Vision Institute on Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles, at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4.

"At no time in history have there been greater advances in refractive eye surgery. Between advances with the Artisan Lens for treating myopia in its second phase of clinical trials and now the FDAs approval for the VISX Laser to be used for hyperopia, eye glasses could easily become obsolete," said Maloney.

Maloney, a nationally renowned refractive eye surgeon was the first physician in western North America to perform LASIK, the new laser procedure. Maloney is a lead investigator for the FDA on the Artisan Lens clinical trials and an FDA approved investigator for the laser.

He was the founding director of the UCLA Refractive Laser Center at the Jules Stein Eye Institute and an associate professor of ophthalmology at the UCLA School of Medicine, prior to establishing the Maloney Vision Institute in 1998. In a 1996 national survey of ophthalmologists by Ophthalmology Times magazine, Maloney was voted among the Top 10 refractive surgeons in the United States.

The Maloney Vision Institute is located at 10921 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 900, Los Angeles, Calif. 90024. Web site: www.maloneyvision.com.