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Article: LASER REPAIR FOR FARSIGHTED GAINS APPROVAL.(News)
- Article from:
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- Article date:
- November 4, 1998
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The federal government yesterday approved the first laser surgery system to treat farsightedness, the inability to see objects clearly at close range.
Visx Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif. beat out bitter rival Summit Technology of Waltham Mass. for the green light from the Food and Drug Administration approval.
About 22 percent of Americans suffer from farsightedness.
``This is huge for Visx,'' said George Woo, an analyst with Burnham Securities. ``This opens up a whole new market.''
Laser surgery has been used since 1995 to correct nearsightedness, the inability to see clearly at a distance. An estimated 400,000 Americans are expected to ...