More Hydrogel Contact Lenses Discontinued at CooperVision

CooperVision continues to streamline their portfolio of available contact lens products by dropping older low oxygen permeable hydrogel lenses in favor of newer technology.  Beginning in April, here are the changes in product availability:

Discontinued Trials, Boxes still Available
No trials means that doctors cannot start new fits for this lens, and they cannot order replacements for lost or torn lenses.  Usually discontinuing trials is a precursor to discontinuing the lens itself as a way to pull it off the market less abruptly.

• Biomedics XC (also called UltraFlex XC)  

• Frequency 55 Toric 

Completely Discontinued Lenses (trials and boxes)

• Biomedics 38 and Biomedics 55
• At this time Biomedics Premier (Aspheric) IS still available
• Frequency 55 Sphere
• At this time Frequency 55 Aspheric IS still available.
• Vertex Sphere

Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis

My lens is discontinued, but I've never been able to wear other lenses.  What can I do?

A certain number of contact lens wearers react very poorly to the higher oxygen silicone hydrogel materials used in most contact lenses today.  The silicone used in the lenses to make them more breathable and healthier for the cornea can irritate some people's eyes, causing redness or even an allergic reaction like Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis. If you still wear the lenses discontinued above, there's a good chance the only reason you still wear that lens is because you have had issues trying to switch. If you are intolerant to silicone lenses, there are still a number of silicone-free hydrogel products on the market.  CooperVision's Proclear line is still considered a vital part of their lens portfolio; both monthly wear and daily disposable options are available in the Proclear material. Many daily disposable lenses use hydrogel materials: Dailies Aqua Comfort Plus, and Acuvue 1 Day Moist for example.  Two companies still make 2 week disposable hydrogel lenses like Biomedics and Vertex: Bausch and Lomb's Soflens 38 and Johsnon & Johnson's Acuvue 2 are still available in a 2 week modality.  Soflens also comes in both astigmatism and multifocal options (though the optics on the multifocal are disappointing to most -- I'd upgrade to Acuvue 1 Day Moist Multifocal for the vision if you need a silicone-free multifocal contact lens).