The world is moving to either single use or silicone hydrogel contact lenses, and CooperVision acknowledged that trend recently by announcing plans to discontinue some of its older hydrogel contact lens options. They cited a major movement in contact lens fitting trends in the first few months of 2014: 44% of hydrogel lens wearers were refit to silicone hydrogel lenses and 44% of multiple wear lens wearers were refit into daily disposables (data from CooperVision). With so many options for better health and better comfort, the days of old hydrogrel lenses seem to be numbered with multiple companies restructuring their product lineups to ditch old materials in favor of healthier options.
The three lenses that are being discontinued are Biomedics 55 UV, Biomedics 38, and Proclear EP. As of 12/31/2014 trial lenses will no longer be available for order, and no boxes will be available to purchase in any of these lens products as of 10/31/2015. Here are the recommended refit options for the products being discontinued:
Biomedics 55 UV and Biomedics 38 (also called Sofmed or Ultraflex):
 |
| I was surprised to see Proclear EP as a discontinued lens since I do find it effective for very early presbyopia, but full multifocal contact lenses are getting better at limiting distance distortion, and using a silicone hydrogel lens like Biofinity MF with low adds will give the added benefit of monthly lens wear and higher oxygen transmissibility. via |
The three lenses that are being discontinued are Biomedics 55 UV, Biomedics 38, and Proclear EP. As of 12/31/2014 trial lenses will no longer be available for order, and no boxes will be available to purchase in any of these lens products as of 10/31/2015. Here are the recommended refit options for the products being discontinued:
Biomedics 55 UV and Biomedics 38 (also called Sofmed or Ultraflex):
- to keep with 2 week disposal, refit to Avaira
- to change to monthly disposal, refit to Biofinity
- upgrade to daily disposable
Proclear EP (also called Biomedics EP):
- change to monthly replacement Biofinity MF with low add
- upgrade to daily disposable multifocal in low add
Lenses that are not included in the slated discontinuation plans include Biomedics XC, Vertex Toric, and Frequency 55 (Encore Premium). These hydrogel lenses will likely have a limited future based on the trends CooperVision is citing as the cause of their decision since these lenses are also older hydrogel materials. Additionally all of those above products are not even listed on the CooperVision website as current products except by going to an "additional lenses" section. It's not a bad idea to consider refitting patients wearing CooperVision's other older hydrogel lens materials as well to be proactive to possible changes in the near future. If you have a patient with silicone hydrogel intolerance, Proclear Compatibles and Proclear 1-Day offer great alternatives (and they are listed on CooperVision's site as part of their product family which makes me feel comfortable that there are no plans to remove these lenses in the near future).
