IOL Counselor

[vivian756]

Are you familiar with the IOL Counselor device which ophthalmologists report is increasing their sales of ReZoom/ReStor by 25-80 percent!  I'm wondering if because there is so much variability in multifocal outcomes, if the IOL counselor doesn't present the optimum outcome for multifocal, and the worst case scenario for monofocal.  Isn't this deceptive?  Thanks  Vivian Mower        ***@****


This discussion is related to Multifocal lens implants.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

I would tend not to use a counseling service that pushes surgery, pushes premium IOLs and includes the problem prone ReZoom IOL.  At this type the promise of the mutifocal IOL is not fulfilled by the products on the market.

JCH III MD

[JodieJ]

I just finished reading the December 2007 Eyeworld supplement devoted entirely to the IOL Counselor.  (Google "eyeworld magazine" and scroll down to the supplements.)  It's really unfortunate that the major corporate players (Alcon and AMO) aren't willing to allocate the funds to making a real in-office tool for educating patients about cataract surgery, methods of reducing astigmatism, and what "blended vision" and monovision would be like.  That type of "Counselor" would really help to reduce both patient anxiety and surgeons' chair time.  The IOL Counselor described in the supplement seems to be sophistocated propaganda based on a biased view of the technology of 2005-2006.  

[JodieJ]

Have you used the IOL Counselor yourself?  It sure sounds deceptive to me, especially given the very poor performance record of ReZoom.  And it seems to omit better alternatives (monovision with aspheric lenses, the Crystalens) for people who want to minimize their dependence on glasses.

I hope the doctors using such hard sell tactics for ReZoom/ReStor aren't the same ones who wouldn't want these lenses implanted in their own eyes.