Cataracts

Dr. Timothy B. Cavanaugh sat at a small table in the San Juan Capistrano office of Optex Ophthalmologics Inc., a detached pig eye staring up at him through the microscope. With deft movements he cut a small slit in the periphery of the eye, punched a hole in the lens and sucked out its jello-like contents using a newly developed probe--all in less than five minutes.

Lifetime exposure to lead from paint in older houses, drinking-water pipes and other sources appears to increase men's risk of cataract development.

Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs can reduce the incidence of the most common type of cataract by 45%, according to a five-year study of nearly 1,300 people.

Confirming a trend that has been observed for other types of surgery, a new study has found that Medicare patients in managed care plans are only half as likely to undergo vision-saving cataract surgery as are those in traditional fee-for-service plans.

An Irwindale-based manufacturer of high-technology artificial lenses that replace natural lenses following cataract surgery on Tuesday sued the federal government to overturn the Medicare reimbursement rate for the lenses.

Lens Suit Settled for $5.3 Million: Optical Radiation Corp. has agreed to pay a Southern California ophthalmologist $5.3 million to settle a patent infringement suit stemming from the company's manufacturing of multi-piece intraocular lenses, which are implanted in cataract patients.