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Thread: Dead at, Dr. Newton K. Wesley, 93, Contact Lens Pioneer.........................

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    Redhot Jumper Dr. Newton K. Wesley, 93, Best Known Contact Lens Pioneer.........................

    Services Planned for Dr. Newton K. Wesley, 93, Contact Lens Pioneer
    CHICAGO—Newton K. Wesley, OD, MD, ScD, PhD, age 93, died July 21 of congestive heart failure in Freeport, Ill., an announcement said. Wesley was a contact lens pioneer, lecturer, writer, educator, clinician and inventor. He created solutions for his keratoconus that led to his development and manufacturing of contact lenses and is often cited for inventing the first commercially successful rigid contact lens in the 1950s.

    Newton K. (Uyesugi) Wesley (October 1,1917-July 21, 2011)[1] was an optometrist and an early pioneer of the contact lens. Wesley was a partner with George Jessen in the development and advancement of contact lens.[2] Together they founded the Wesley-Jessen Corporation as well as the National Eye Research Foundation. Wesley-Jessen was acquired by Schering Plough in 1980 then and CIBA Vision by 2001.[3][4]
    Working in an Uptown basement, Dr. Newton K. Wesley helped craft a solution to his deteriorating vision: Comfortable contact lenses that could be worn for long periods. Considered a pioneer in the contact lens industry, the Chicago-based Dr. Wesley went on to become one of the leading developers and manufacturers of contact lenses, paving the way for the modern contacts we know today.

    Dr. Wesley, 93, died of congestive heart failure on Thursday, July 21, at the Stephenson Nursing Center in Freeport, Ill.

    Born Newton Uyesugi to Japanese-immigrant parents in Westport, Oregon, Dr. Wesley thrived in school and managed to graduate from high school at 16. By 22, he had an optometry practice in Portland, Oregon. He had also begun to operate his alma mater, what is known now as Pacific University College of Optometry, Roy Wesley said.
    But in 1942, a year after he married the late Cecilia Sasaki Wesley, the optometrist and his family — including two young children — were sent to the Minidoka War Relocation Center in Idaho.

    Dr. Wesley, who for business purposes Anglicized his name to what he thought sounded similar to his Japanese last name, was able to receive permission to leave the camp — though his family stayed.

    The optometrist moved to the Midwest and attended Earlham College in Indiana, then settled in Chicago. When his family was released from the camp at the end of the war, they joined him in Uptown.

    It was in Uptown that Dr. Wesley began researching a solution to his vision problems. The optometrist suffered from keratoconus, a degenerative disease of the cornea that affects vision, and had been told by experts that he'd likely lose his sight.

    He knew that contact lenses helped him see, but the lenses available in the 1940s couldn't be worn for long periods. So Dr. Wesley and his partner, George Jessen, began to research and develop a new type.

    Wesley and Jessen eventually developed the plastic lenses known as rigid contact lenses. The lens fit over just the cornea, unlike its predecessor, which also rested on the sclera (the white area), said Neil Hodur, a professor at the Illinois College of Optometry and a colleague and friend of Dr. Wesley's.

    The end product was lenses that were smaller, thinner and longer-wearing, said Alfred Rosenbloom, a former dean and president of the Illinois College of Optometry.
    In 1946, Dr. Wesley and Jessen formed the Plastic Contact Lens Co., which later became Wesley-Jessen Inc.. It was acquired in 2000 by Ciba Vision.

    Dr. Wesley's company began to manufacture and distribute the new, more comfortable lens, though it took an aggressive marketing campaign to convince the 1950s public that placing the lens in the eye was safe, Hodur said. He also founded the now defunct National Eye Research Foundation.

    Dr. Wesley, known for his bushy sideburns, toured the country marketing and promoting the lenses to eye care professionals, celebrities like Phyllis Diller and television audiences — who were wowed by his model, Leo, the contact-wearing rabbit. The optometrist traveled so often that he learned to pilot a plane that took off from Meigs Field.

    Dr. Wesley's family also says that in the 1950s, he campaigned to get "contact lens" into the dictionary.

    In addition to his son, Dr. Wesley is survived by his wife, Sandra; three daughters, Shona, Justine and Jenna Williams; three other sons, Morgan, Taylor and Newton Lee; five grandchildren; and three great-grand children.[5]




    Bausch & Lomb drops takeover,

    ROCHESTER, N.Y. Bausch & Lomb Inc. abandoned its pursuit of Wesley Jessen VisionCare Inc. Tuesday after the Des Plaines, Ill.-based cosmetic contact lens maker revealed it had accepted a $785 million buyout offer from CIBA Vision.
    The deal with Atlanta-based CIBA, the eye-care unit of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, tops a sweetened but hostile bid valued at about $725 million that Bausch & Lomb Inc. made for Wesley Jessen on May 8.
    Novartis said the combined CIBA-Wesley Jessen would be the world's second largest contact lens company, with combined annual sales of $1.4 billion and a work force of 8,900.
    In approving CIBA's cash offer of $38.50 a share in cash, Wesley Jessen's board broke off its proposed merger with Ocular Sciences Inc. and paid the contact lens company in South San Francisco a $25 million termination fee.
    Bausch & Lomb's ''best and final'' bid of $35.55 a share in cash had been set to expire Wednesday. But the eye-care company, which has strength in premium disposable lenses, cited the definitive agreement between Wesley Jessen and CIBA in withdrawing its offer.
    Last edited by Chris Ryser; 07-28-2011 at 11:51 AM.

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