It's that time of year again! As new technology in the world of contact lenses continues to enter the marketplace and get FDA approval, older and less breathable contact lenses are being taken off the market.  Effective as of 11/1/2017 you can no longer get trial or diagnostic lenses of any contact lens listed below.  Here's a list of the recent discontinuations and their last dates for available box purchases by CooperVision:

• Biomedics XC
• Discontinued 11/1/2017
• Biomedics 38 and Biomedics 55 were discontinued in 2016
• Biomedics Premier (aspheric) is still available at this time
• Clearsight 1 Day Toric
• Discontinued 11/1/2017
• Vertex Toric XR
• Discontinued 1/1/2018
• Vertex Sphere was discontinued in 2016
• Avaira Sphere
• Discontinued 5/1/2018
• This lens is being replaced by Avaira Vitality
• Avaira Toric
• Discontinued 1/1/2018
• This lens is being replaced by Avaira Vitality Toric
• Frequency 55 Toric
• Discontinued 11/1/2018
• Frequency 55 sphere was discontinued in 2016, Frequency 55 Aspheric is still available at this time 
• Frequency 55 Toric XR
• Discontinued 11/1/2018

If you need extended range (XR) toric lenses,  Proclear Toric XR and Biofinity Toric XR are both still available through CooperVision!

If you wear one of these CooperVision products, you are in the most current contact lens technology! These are the brands that will continue to be available and best priced by the company going forward.

The world is moving to either single use or silicone hydrogel contact lenses, and CooperVision acknowledged that trend recently by announcing plans to discontinue some of its older hydrogel contact lens options. They cited a major movement in contact lens fitting trends in the first few months of 2014:  44% of hydrogel lens wearers were refit to silicone hydrogel lenses and 44% of multiple wear lens wearers were refit into daily disposables (data from CooperVision).  With so many options for better health and better comfort, the days of old hydrogrel lenses seem to be numbered with multiple companies restructuring their product lineups to ditch old materials in favor of healthier options.

I was surprised to see Proclear EP as a discontinued lens since I do find it effective for very early presbyopia, but full multifocal contact lenses are getting better at limiting distance distortion, and using a silicone hydrogel lens like Biofinity MF with low adds will give the added benefit of monthly lens wear and higher oxygen transmissibility.  via

The three lenses that are being discontinued are Biomedics 55 UV, Biomedics 38, and Proclear EP. As of 12/31/2014 trial lenses will no longer be available for order, and no boxes will be available to purchase in any of these lens products as of 10/31/2015.  Here are the recommended refit options for the products being discontinued:

Biomedics 55 UV and Biomedics 38 (also called Sofmed or Ultraflex):

• to keep with 2 week disposal, refit to Avaira
• to change to monthly disposal, refit to Biofinity
• upgrade to daily disposable