Need to hear from people who know about the Nanoflex

[Anomalychick]

         I am not even 30 and need cataract surgery in both eyes, so getting this right is very very important to me. I don;'t think I would be happy with any of the commonly used options, so I'm looking into lesser known ones.
        The Nanoflex IOL from STAAR supposedly gave 100% of study participants 20/20 at distance (best corrected cuz they don’t always focus it perfectly) and 20/63 at near. That’s 100%, 75% of participants could see 20/40 or better at near. Supposedly when used for monovision people have 20/20 across the board.  (instead of needed glasses for intermediate) Supposedly blended vision with this lens can be done in several different ways to supposedly give you perfect vision, no glasses, and you would not be able to tell that your eyes were not focused the same if done correctly.
        100%  of study participants could see 20/32 or better at intermediate. It certainly seems miles better than any monofocal, and pretty competetive with multifocals or crystalens with no drawbacks.  The nanoflex is approved as a monofocal, but supposedly they are trying to have that changed to accommodative for obvious reasons.  Unfortunately, this information comes from two small studies, both of which were paid for by the manufacturer. In addition, there are probably only 20 or 30 doctors in the country who offer this particular IOL. If it was as great as the study results indicate, I can’t imagine why it would not be the ONLY available choice for cataract surgery. In fact, I think everyone over 50 would be lining up to have it implanted for presbyopia correction as well. So, either it’s the best kept secret in the world, or the study results are not giving the whole picture. I want to know if doctors are seeing similar results in their patients, and I want to know if those results stay stable after YAG capsulotomy.  There is a doctor in PA I think who advertises it on his website, but he indicates that he wants to operate on the dominant eye first to ensure crisp distance vision. He then talks about the possibility of doing LASIK afterwards if there is a refractive error. It makes me wonder if the power on this lens might be a little bit more difficult to calculate than with other monofocals. (It just seems strange that someone would advertise difficulties with power calculation in the same place they are advertising why you should come to his office and get “blended vision.”) I have called ten doctors who offer this lens so far, and have written emails to two. Both emails were not replied to. Most calls were not answered. In one office the person answering the phone insisted it was a monofocal and two pairs of glasses would be necessary. In another they stated it was FDA approved as a monofocal, but when pressed she then indicated that patients could usually read around J5 (light reading glasses only, if any at all) and then politely reminded me that it was a monofocal. In one office, office staff actually called me back two days later to inform me that the doctor would not be returning my call unless I wished to travel 500 miles to come in for a consultation. Nobody permitted me to speak with a doctor who had experience with the lens, and nobody was able to answer my questions.

[Anomalychick]

That was it. Dr. Lewis was the one I tried to contact. The office told me to email him. When I never heard back they said he was on vacation. Then they said he must not recieved it and I should email again. This went on for months. Then they said he was too busy to get to his emails and I would just have to schedule an appointment.

[KayakerNC]

Yeah, the biggest Nanoflex booster seemed to be a Dr Lewis in Philly, but I couldn't get any meaningful info from that office.
http://www.cataractphiladelphia.com/nanoflex.html

[Anomalychick]

I wrote my post 2 years ago. I do remember that I was able to find two doctors who used them, but at one office nobody would speak to me at all, and at the other the office staff would try to answer questions although i was not permitted to speak with the doctor. There was also some guy in virginia I think it was, who I emailed a few times on instructons of his staff and never heard back.

[KayakerNC]

Ms Jill,
When I pulled the trigger and went for my cataract surgery (Crystalens Trulign) I deleted most of my email and Bookmark/Favorite files for all the other options.
I think you may be putting the cart before the horse in trying to pre-select an IOL.  
I finally decided that being close to home and support was my best option and made appointments for cataract evaluations based on recommendations from my primary MD and my Optometrist with ophthalmologists that have experience with all the IOLs, rather than a one-trick pony Dr who only implants one type.   I cancelled the 3rd appointment when the first 2 told me pretty much the same thing.  
Stay away from multifocals.
Best results (for MY eyes) would be with torics and laser assisted surgery.  
If you have a good surgeon near you that recommends Nanoflex as best for your vision, I don't think you can go wrong.  
Good luck and God bless.

[Anomalychick]

And this is exactly what I wrote over a year ago! Getting information out of doctors can literally be impossible. Part of me wondered if I just didn't try hard enough back then.

[joojeh]

I am sure I had my glasses  on when I wrote the last post - perhaps I am really going blind too!

Anyhow what I meant to say was:

LOL - I have done that a lot, not just typos; I have bought stuff from supermarket shelf when I didn't have my glasses and only found out when I got home I have bought the wrong thing.