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Medical Forum / General / Vision / June 2005IOL ID card
I had an inquiry from a person who's surgeon didn't think she needed to know what IOL was put in her eye. Didn't it used to be the rule to give patients an IOL ID card so that if there ever were a recall or problem that people would know what they had? What happened to that idea? Anyone know? w.stacy, o.d. >I had an inquiry from a person who's surgeon didn't think she needed to >know what IOL was put in her eye. Didn't it used to be the rule to give [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >w.stacy, o.d. Fond as I am of anecdotal, N=1, information studies . . . . I asked my grandmother which IOL's she got when I saw her a few months ago. She pulled out her handy-dandy ID card. So, while the practice may be moribund . . . it's not dead yet ;-) Somebody was smart with her, btw. She's 86. Never drove. Avid reader. Without asking /her/ input, I'm guessing they left her about a -1.50 myope. I can run circles around her reading street signs, but . . . she can read all day long without glasses . . . and loves it. Somehow, her 90yo husband can read /and/ drive w/o over Rx glasses. Medicare covered him, so I can't imagine they gave him MFIOLs (?). CLE/IOL's/LRI sounds /so/ tempting, but I can't get over the AAES (Already Arid Eye Syndrome) thing. Just got a Dx of severe allergy to the mold, Penicillium, incidentally. Tx: immunotherapy (shots), spray antihistamine (Astelin) and Nasacort. Astelin is exacerbating the DES (known side effect), but . . . interestingly . . . reducing the incidence of transient blurred vision. My eyes weren't watering. With 4x punctal cautery, I'd know. Perhaps something in the allergic reaction /altered/ my tear film's composition slightly?? Who knows.... > Somebody was smart with her, btw. She's 86. Never drove. Avid > reader. Without asking /her/ input, I'm guessing they left her about > a -1.50 myope. I can run circles around her reading street signs, but > . . . she can read all day long without glasses . . . and loves it. Right on. And she can see her food when eating. Myopia rocks. > Somehow, her 90yo husband can read /and/ drive w/o over Rx glasses. > Medicare covered him, so I can't imagine they gave him MFIOLs (?). probably monovision, or slight mono, like I got, or tiny pupils with great depth of field, but lousy at night. > CLE/IOL's/LRI sounds /so/ tempting, but I can't get over the AAES > (Already Arid Eye Syndrome) thing. Shouldn't make 'em any drier (dryer?), if done right. w.stacy, o.d. got a note from my favorite cataract o.m.d., who says that IOL cards are a relic of the past, and are not required any more. I just hope someone keeps good track of it all. w.stacy, o.d. > got a note from my favorite cataract o.m.d., who says that IOL cards are > a relic of the past, and are not required any more. I just hope someone > keeps good track of it all. > > w.stacy, o.d. Got a IOL card last week with my cataract surgery. Seems to be the practice here in Wisconsin. My exit package contained IOL card, UV glasses, two medicine eye drop bottles, dry eye drops (Alcon), and some sales literature on UV sunglasses. You are required to bring the IOL card and eye medicine with you on your post-op visits. IMHO if your "favorite cataract o.m.d." is getting lax with this simple, no-cost method of providing info to patient, where else is he/she cutting corners? IMHO its pretty stupid not to give IOL card to patient. What happens when office loses the info somewhere down the road? George > corners? IMHO its pretty stupid not to give IOL card to patient. What > happens when office loses the info somewhere down the road? How is the IOL card useful? -MT > > corners? IMHO its pretty stupid not to give IOL card to patient. What > > happens when office loses the info somewhere down the road? > > How is the IOL card useful? > > -MT Like many medical records it may or may not be useful. While I'm not an o.m.d, I can think of a few reasons to have it, from a patient's perspective. Here are some: It completes the patient personal record (sometimes we move to another location like a new state or country), it may be useful if consulting with another o.m.d. should problems arise (some IOLs may have known problems), it allows checking of IOL value(D) against eye measurements (to see how close surgeon came to desired refractive error), provides evidence in case o.m.d. installed an inappropriate or incorrect IOL, might be useful if the product is recalled, and so on. I have a feeling that you could add a few more of your own. Somewhere back in time the o.m.d. community thought giving the patient the IOL card was useful (many still do). What has changed? George PS: Just read somewhere that thousands of pacemakers have been found to have a problem. It was discovered years after the implant. I'm sure these people are glad to know which type they have and who made it. Somewhere > back in time the o.m.d. community thought giving the patient the IOL > card was useful (many still do). What has changed? I guess the FDA decided that it was not accomplishing anything. I mean if there is a recall on a lens or such, the iol manufacturer, distributor, and surgeons are probably in the best position to notify the affected patients, and this notification would not necessarily be aided by the patient having the little I.D. card. I guess. I also guess that there have been very few problems with the iols themselves, and the ones that do pop up are pretty much handled the same way whether or not the surgeon knows every thing about the lens that is causing the problem. If it's severe enought to explant it, he does it, and replaces it with a new design. Anyway, I still think it is a good thing, and hate to see it go, just because the providing of the card is next to costless, and any additional information can't hurt. w.stacy, o.d. I agree with you, Bill. The card provides more information, and more is always better. For example, if you go to another surgeon for the second eye, it would be helpful to know how the other eye reacted to a particular implant. (I say this because this is going to be my case). If a person is asking something, they obviously want to know. Being told you don't need to know is condescending. Karen > Somewhere > > back in time the o.m.d. community thought giving the patient the IOL [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > the affected patients, and this notification would not necessarily be > aided by the patient having the little I.D. card. I guess. Docs retire, move or die. My children's medical records were lost (the pediatrician just lost them somewhere) and my and my husband's records were lost when our doc retired and then died. If I had something implanted in my body, I'd like to at least have the warranty card! > I also guess that there have been very few problems with the iols > themselves, and the ones that do pop up are pretty much handled the same [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > because the providing of the card is next to costless, and any > additional information can't hurt. Would a doc refuse to write out the information if the patient asked and provided his own sheet of paper?  SignatureCheers, Bev *********************************************** "A complete lack of evidence is the surest sign that the conspiracy is working." -- Tanuki > Docs retire, move or die. My children's medical records were lost (the > pediatrician just lost them somewhere) and my and my husband's records were > lost when our doc retired and then died. If I had something implanted in my > body, I'd like to at least have the warranty card! Er, I don't think the iol cards are exactly warranty cards, but the point is well taken. > Would a doc refuse to write out the information if the patient asked and > provided his own sheet of paper? I think not. Remember, the doc's records belong to the patient. He/she is just the keeper of them. You can have a copy of your file at any time. (you might get charged for copying, if the doc is a tightwad). w.stacy, o.d. My husband received a card to go with his new bionic lens. It describes the brand, the material, the manufacture date, the implant date, and the power. Anybody who bothers to look my husband in the eye can tell he has an implant, however - his pupil is huge and the largest available lens wasn't big enough so outside observers can see the edges reflecting the light. Bothers my husband because he has blurry peripheral vision, but no help for it. His other option was to have the cataract removed and wear glasses with one plano and one Rx lens which he wasn't willing to do, or to wear a contact and reading glasses which was also not an option for him. In the FWIW department folks who receive other sorts of implants are generally given a card of some sort to carry around. A friend with two bionic hips keeps her cards in the same folder as her passport, along with a miniature xray of her pelvis (like anybody can tell that's her) in an effort to forestall strip searches at airports when she travels. She does say she's become accustomed to wearing knit pants so she can "flash" her scars. Another friend who has a bionic knee also has an ID card but he doesn't carry around an Xray of it ;) +++++++++++++ Reply to the list as I do not publish an email address to USENET. This practice has cut my spam by more than 95%. Of course, I did have to abandon a perfectly good email account... > I had an inquiry from a person who's surgeon didn't think she needed to > know what IOL was put in her eye. Didn't it used to be the rule to give > patients an IOL ID card so that if there ever were a recall or problem > that people would know what they had? What happened to that idea? > Anyone know? I've got two cards in my wallet. One says 6D, the other 7D. There are other numbers, but they don't mean anything to me. SignatureDan Abel Sonoma State University AIS dabel@sonic.net > I've got two cards in my wallet. One says 6D, the other 7D. There are > other numbers, but they don't mean anything to me. I can foresee the benefit in knowing what type of IOL, in case of say, trauma, when the original surgeon's records aren't available. There are many different designs. But I never understood the benefit of knowing someone's IOL power. We seldom know if for the natural lens. Some of these old guys have carried it around in their wallet for a decade because "they told me to." -MT
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