Andrew Karp

Many optometrists began using ocular telehealth this spring, when the spread of COVID-19 and subsequent shutdowns of optometric practices and optical retail stores cut them off from seeing patients in person. We spoke with several optometrists who are new to telehealth about what their experience has been like. They report that remote consultations via a mobile app have proved to be an effective means of providing at least a basic level of care.

NEW YORK—Ocular telehealth is trending hot these days, kicked into high gear by the coronavirus pandemic. More eye doctors and optical retailers than ever report they are now using telehealth to deliver virtual vision care, including many first-time users seeking to connect with patients who had been in lockdown.

NEW YORK—Essilor, the world’s biggest lens company, is also the biggest optical laboratory operator in the U.S. Since acquiring its first U.S. labs in 1996, Essilor has built a network consisting of over 90 locations that are part of its ELOA group or are independently-owned partner labs. Pete Lothes is in charge of the company’s lab operations. Lothes has spent his career in and around labs, first helping manage the family business in Columbus, Ohio and later heading Essilor’s Satisloh business…

NEW YORK—Essilor, the world’s biggest lens company, is also the biggest optical laboratory operator in the U.S. Since acquiring its first U.S. labs in 1996, Essilor has built a network consisting of over 90 locations that are part of its ELOA group or are independently-owned partner labs. Pete Lothes is in charge of the company’s lab operations. Lothes has spent his career in and around labs, first helping manage the family business in Columbus, Ohio and later heading Essilor’s Satisloh business…

Synopsis: LBC Optics services Wisconsin Vision’s 38 stores. The regional retailer was ranked 31st in Vision Monday’s 2020 Top Retailer ranking. LBC’s reengineering project was two-fold. The first was constructing a new conveyor line that could transfer job trays automatically using existing equipment that has the capability to function in this capacity. Second was installing a new control stacker and two new auto polishers to complete a line that produced 100 lenses/hour from blocker to final wa…

What makes Stu Gleich tick? This seems like a reasonable question to ask about a dedicated horologist—someone who studies and often buys, sells and collects wristwatches and other timepieces. So, I decided to find out more about the man and what motivates him in his personal and professional pursuits. Here’s what I learned. Although Gleich makes his living in optical sales, horology is a consuming interest. However, he approaches both with a similar attitude. For Gleich, the search for that spec…

Like many magazine editors, I’m also magazine fan. I read some of them online, but I still enjoy reading, and feeling, the print edition of the New Yorker, Guitar Player and a few other favorites. Honestly, I can’t wait to get my hands on it. When a new issue arrives, I start thumbing through it as I walk from the mailbox to my house. Last month, I discovered a magazine I hadn’t seen before, despite the fact that it’s been published for ages. It’s the Marine Corps Times, which bills itself as “t…

In discussions of optical industry history, Arthur Lemay’s name doesn’t often come up. Unlike celebrated figures like Bernard Maitenaz, who invented the Varilux lens, or Noel Roscrow, Robert Graham and Rene Grandperret, who played key roles in the development of plastic lenses, or O.W. Coburn, who helped commercialize automated surface generators, Arthur Lemay is relatively unknown. Joe Santinelli has made it his mission to change that. For the past 30 years Joe, the founder of lens finishing eq…

When sunlight strikes the lens of our eyes, some of the energy absorbed is converted into heat. But some of that “absorbed energy” is also converted into light. It’s a blue-green “glow” that is responsible for much of the visual discomfort that we call glare. However, later in life, our lens emits a new, red light “glow” (fluorescence) that may repair the retina. A U.S. patent was recently issued to Photoprotective Technologies, Inc. that mimics the details of the red fluorescence of the human l…

On Tuesday, the Third Circuit, handed down a decision in a case involving the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) and the National...