Exaggerated Dangers of Circle Lenses Can’t Stop Its Popularity From Ticking Along

MANCHESTER, England, Aug. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Circle lens are colored contact lenses designed to enlarge the iris of the eye as well as changing the color of the iris. Concerns about their effects on eyesight rise up again after a girl from New York lost her sight using illegally purchased colored lenses. Although circle lenses are not approved by the FDA yet, and are illegal to be sold in the US without a professional license, their popularity is just soaring up nowadays.

In the United States the sale of any type of contact lens is prohibited without a prescription from a registered eye-doctor. However, circle lenses can be bought online from overseas sites and they are relatively inexpensive. A spokesman of Korea lenses manufacturer explained, the girl probably got an eye infection due to improper use. According to the news, she was taught by a guide the improper way to clean the lenses. If instructions for the lenses are followed, the danger of using circle lenses is no different than using regular corrective lenses. However he added, there are indeed ‘fake’ lenses in the market, which are produced by irresponsible makers without considering the quality of the lenses.

When the US decided against selling circle lenses, Korea and few countries found motivating reasons to approve these lenses despite purported dangers associated to using these lenses. Most circle lenses are exported from Korea, with figures of up to millions annually; they are sold worldwide, and have been approved by the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA).

Florence from LensVillage.com, owner of an online circle lens store based in Asia, seems perplexed why these beautiful lenses, which are getting sold worldwide like hot cakes, have not been ratified by the FDA yet. She adds that getting a pair of KFDA certified circle lenses at $20-$30 is possible but customers should make sure that they are well prescribed before purchase. Her company is committed to assess the authenticity and usability of the colored contact lenses, by checking whether the products they sell are produced only by the authentic Korean manufacturers. The circle lens market is expected to grow continuously while manufacturers continue to work on getting approval by the FDA.

http://www.lensvillage.com

SOURCE LensVillage.com