Eyeworld

40 | EYEWORLD | SPRING 2026 ASCRS NEWS ASCRS ANNUAL MEETING PREVIEW About the physician David F. Chang, MD Altos Eye Physicians Los Altos, California "Paradoxically, our regulatory agencies are say- ing that we can't have an intraocular antibiotic to administer because there isn't enough proof that it works, while continuing to mandate wasteful practices without any evidence that they are effective," he said. Dr. Chang's insights come from more than two decades of research collaboration with Aravind and from his extensive experience representing ASCRS and AAO with multiple reg- ulatory agencies and policymakers. His leader- ship roles include chairing the ASCRS Cataract Clinical Committee, the AAO Cataract Preferred Practice Pattern Panel, the multisociety Ophthal- mic Instrument Cleaning and Sterilization Task Force, and EyeSustain, which he co-founded. EyeSustain is a global coalition of 55 member societies committed to advancing sustainability in ophthalmology through education, research, innovation, and advocacy. As chair of the Eye- Sustain Advisory Board, Dr. Chang led efforts to align ASCRS, ESCRS, AAO, and EURETINA as the four co-sponsoring organizations. EyeSus- tain has served as a global platform for societies and individual ophthalmologists to learn from, collaborate with, and educate others about sus- tainable eyecare delivery and surgery. Last year, Dr. Chang received the EnergEYES Award from the AAO Young Ophthalmologist Committee to recognize his leadership roles in sustainability and global ophthalmology and his ability to in- spire younger ophthalmologists to pursue these important volunteer efforts. Lindstrom Lecture preview: 'Preventing Endophthalmitis – Evidence, Waste, and Regulatory Paradoxes' T he 2026 Richard L. Lindstrom, MD, Lecture at the ASCRS Annual Meet- ing will be given by David F. Chang, MD, past ASCRS president and Board member for 15 years. The Lecture will be held on the ASCRS Main Stage on April 12. A past chief medical editor of EyeWorld, Dr. Chang has been on the ASCRS Foundation Board since 2010, serving as chair or co-chair for 9 years. Dr. Chang's lecture will discuss what mea- sures do and do not work to prevent ophthalmic surgical infection based on current evidence. He will review new studies supporting the effica- cy of intracameral moxifloxacin prophylaxis, including a new randomized controlled trial and updated, real-world longitudinal data from the Aravind Eye Care System. Dr. Chang will also re- view and compare recent antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines from Europe and Asia-Pacific with practice patterns and guidelines in the U.S. Many mandatory infection control proto- cols and regulations in the OR are not evidence based and may be unnecessary, Dr. Chang said. These policies include mandating single use of most surgical supplies, drugs, and devices, strict environmental safety protocols, and blanket ap- plication of general surgery protocols to eye sur- gery. Dr. Chang will review evidence that many surgical supplies and drugs can and are being safely reused and that ophthalmologists should have discretion over these decisions. "Because of the extremely high volume of ophthalmic procedures, such as cataract surgery, the scale of unnecessary expense and waste is enormous and is unsustainable as global surgical volumes continue to rise," he said. Requirements for cost-prohibitive random- ized trials by the FDA mean that U.S. patients do not have access to commercially approved intraocular antibiotic solutions, he added. Dr. Chang will discuss how paradoxical regulations and policies ultimately harm the patient popula- tion that they purport to protect. He explained that the FDA requires irrefutable proof that intraocular antibiotics are efficacious to approve a commercial solution, while other regulatory agencies mandate unnecessary measures with- out which we cannot prove there to be zero risk. " Because of the extremely high volume of ophthalmic procedures … the scale of unnecessary expense and waste is enormous …" —David F. Chang, MD

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