EW
IN OTHER NEWS
June 2011
69
Mission Cataract USA
combats cataract
blindness domestically
A
mother of the bride
can't see her daughter
walk down the aisle. A
grandmother can't pick
out her grandchild on
the playground. A self-employed
woodcarver
can't see well enough to
continue his trade. All three of these
individuals live in the U.S. and were
once going blind from cataracts. All
three were uninsured, ineligible for
Medicare, and couldn't afford the
surgery on their own. And all three
had their sight saved by Mission
Cataract USA, a non-profit program
that works to provide the impaired
with free cataract surgery.
Mission Cataract patients "tend
to be between 40 and 60 years old
and are often working, but don't
have any kind of health insurance
that would cover cataract surgery,"
said Herb Ingraham, M.D., chair-
man, ophthalmology department,
Geisinger Health System, Danville,
Pa., and Mission Cataract volunteer.
"They have no way of paying
thousands
of dollars to have their
cataracts taken care of."
The U.S. may seem like an un-
likely place for cataract blindness—
most think of it as an international
issue, not domestic—but a stagger-
ing number of people fall through
the cracks. According to a 2008 U.S.
Census Bureau report, more than 45
million
people under 65 are unin-
sured, two-thirds of which live
below the poverty line. With the im-
pact of the recession over the last
couple of years, that number could
be as high as 50 million. Cataracts,
although often an aliment of the
elderly, can develop in people at any
age and become significant well be-
fore Medicare kicks in.
"Patients usually have pretty
significant cataracts," said Dr.
Ingraham. "We're not doing the
20/30 patient who is bothered by a
little bit of glare while driving at
night. These are patients who are
20/400, counting fingers. They are
trapped. Their vision is getting
worse and worse, and they may have
by Faith A. Hayden EyeWorld Staff Writer
Filling the gaps
Abbott Medical
Optics (AMO)
Page: 5 and 7
Phone: 714-247-8314
Fax: 714-247-8682
www.amo-inc.com
Alcon Laboratories
Inc.
Page: Cover 2, 3, 19, 20,
25, 26, 39, 45, and 46
Phone: 800-862-5266
Fax: 800-241-0677
www.alconlabs.com
Allergan
Page: 14, 15, 70, and
Cover 4
Phone: 714-246-4500
Fax: 714-246-4764
www.allergan.com
APACRS
Page: 57
Phone: 65-63278630
www.apacrs.org
Aton Pharma
Page: 33 and 34
Phone: 609-671-9010
Fax: 609-671-9046
www.atonrx.com
ESCRS
Page: 54, 55, and 66
www.escrs.org
Gulden Ophthalmics
Page: 67
Phone: 215-884-8105
Fax: 215-884-0418
www.gulden
ophthalmics.com
Katena Products
Page: 44
Phone: 973-989-1600
Fax: 973-989-8175
www.katena.com
Medownick Laser
Eye Clinic
Page: 67
Phone: 800 37 39 37
www.Medownick-
lasereyesurgery.com.au
Moria USA
Page:
17
Phone: 215-230-7662
Fax: 215-230-7670
www.moriausa.com
New World Medical
Page: 48
Phone: 909-466-4304
Fax: 909-466-4305
www.ahmedvalve.com
NexTech
Page: Cover 3
Phone: 877-228-7821
www.nextech.com
Rhein Medical Inc.
Page: 13
Phone: 813-885-5050
Fax: 813-885-9346
www.rheinmedical.com
Volk Optical
Page: 63
Phone: 440-942-6161
Fax: 440-942-2257
www.volk.com
Ziemer Ophthalmic
Page: 12
Phone: 41 32 332 7052
Fax: 41 32 332 7071
ASCRS•ASOA
Meeting Information
ASCRS ASOA 2012
Chicago
Page: 43
ASCRS Winter Up-
date 2012
Page: 49
ASOA Membership
Page: 61
EyeWorld 2011
Page: 9, 21, 29, 51, and
59
Index to advertisers
continued on page 70
Frederick Richburg, M.D., and his wife, Linda Richburg, R.N., performing cataract surgery on
Mission Cataract Day
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