EYE SPECIALISTS FIGHT OVER NEW TREATMENT.Byline: Jonathan Rabinovitz The New York New York, state, United StatesNew York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Eager to perform a new eye procedure that experts say could generate as much as $10 billion in revenues, two groups of eye care specialists are battling each other here and in other capitals over bills that will help determine which side will control the market. On one side are optometrists, whose duties were once limited to eye examinations and prescribing glasses but who have been winning broader rights, in 47 states, to diagnose diseases, treat them and prescribe drugs. On the other side are ophthalmologists, eye doctors who have attended medical school and have gradually lost their monopoly on many eye treatments but still are the only ones who can perform eye surgery. They contend that the procedure is too risky to allow people without medical degrees to perform it. The pot of gold in front of both groups is a relatively new - and expensive - laser procedure known as photorefractive keratectomy Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) A procedure that uses an excimer laser to make modifications to the cornea and permanently correct myopia. Mentioned in: Myopia, Radial Keratotomy photorefractive keratectomy , which corrects nearsightedness nearsightedness or myopia, defect of vision in which far objects appear blurred but near objects are seen clearly. Because the eyeball is too long or the refractive power of the eye's lens is too strong, the image is focused in front of the by slightly flattening the cornea cornea: see eye. . If it catches on, as many experts predict, it could mean billions in fees to whichever group performs the procedure, and it could hurt the market for new glasses and contact lenses contact lenses contact npl → verres mpl de contact contact lenses contact npl → Kontaktlinsen pl contact lenses npl . While no one is questioning the right of ophthalmologists to perform this new procedure, optometrists are saying they should also be authorized to do it. With both sides under the same intense economic pressures that are pinching many medical specialties Medical Specialties See also anatomy; disease and illness; drugs; health; remedies; surgery. adenography the science of the description of glands. — adenographic, adj. , the fight over who will be allowed to execute the laser procedure is shaping up as one of the nation's most bitter medical turf wars. ``It's economics,'' said Dr. Kenneth P. Taylor, director of the medical and ophthalmic consulting unit at Arthur D. Little Arthur D. Little, Inc. is the world's first management consulting firm. Founded in 1886 by Arthur Dehon Little, an MIT chemist who discovered acetate, and co-worker Roger Griffin, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Arthur D. Little pioneered the concept of contracted technology research. Inc. ``Everyone's rushing for the cash flow from a procedure that in 10 or 20 years may become as common a right of passage as getting braces.'' Experts predict that the relatively painless procedure, which now costs $1,800 to $2,300 per eye, will revolutionize the eye care industry by correcting the vision of people with moderate to mild nearsightedness. Still, some ophthalmologists caution that the procedure is not all it is cracked up to be and note that there are no studies of its effect on a patient's vision beyond three years. Taylor warned that the initial market for the procedure would be relatively small - roughly 240,000 patients a year - and that other laser procedures may supplant sup·plant tr.v. sup·plant·ed, sup·plant·ing, sup·plants 1. To usurp the place of, especially through intrigue or underhanded tactics. 2. this one. |
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