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Many of them, including Donald Korb, O.D., in Boston,Robert Morrison, O.D., in Pennsylvania, Leonard Seidner, O.D., in New York and Morton Sarver, O.D.,in California, have been profiled already in this series. [ LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER ]In addition to establishing their own successful practices, the early contact lens practitioners shared their expertise with each other and with future generations. Many set up study groups specifically to share best practices.The first of these was spearheaded by Dr. Koetting in the 1960s. He convinced a group of practitioners (Harold Davis, Clarence McEeachern, Danny Klaff, Jack Hill, George Bournachal, Bill Fleishman, John Kennedy, Tom Scarborough, Bob Head, Ted Kassalow, Burtt Holmes, and himself) to meet and discuss their successes every six months for 40 years.They called themselves the American Society of Contact LensEarly 1990sDrs. Stone and Mowrey-McKee develop the Complete line of products for Wesley-Jessen (later marketed by Allergan and then AMO).Specialists but were soon dubbed “The Dirty Dozen,” after the movie by the same name. The doctors in the study group became close friends. They shared tips on business practices, marketing, financials, lenses and solutions, fitting techniques, and personal problems and successes. They would all become prominent authors and sought-after lecturers in the field.Left to right: Rick Weisbarth, O.D., Richard Hill, O.D., Kenneth Polse, O.D., Donald Korb, O.D., and Robert B. Mandell, O.D., at the 2006 CLCS Awards Reception.In the 1980s, many other practice management groups modeled themselves after the Dirty Dozen. They had names such as the EyeCare Management Group, the Obscene Thirteen, and the Mustache Group. These three, along with the original Dirty Dozen, and a second-generation spinoff of that group, all came together in the early 1990s for a joint meeting in Phoenix, which they called the Contact Lens and Anterior Segment Society, or CLASS. CLASS was a valuable source of contact lens education until the Attorneys General for Florida and several other states initiated investigations into these types of contact lens meetings.
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