11835 Carmel Mountain Rd. Suite 1304-211
San Diego, CA 92128
November 2026
President's Message
A Year of Connection, Community, and Celebration!
As we approach the end of 2026, I can’t help but reflect on what an incredible year it has been for the San Diego County Optometric Society! This year has been filled with growth, laughter, new friendships, and a renewed sense of community. It has been so rewarding to see our society come together, not just to learn and grow professionally, but to genuinely connect with one another.
One of our biggest initiatives this year was SDCOS Connect, an effort to bring more social mixers and opportunities for connection to our members and sponsors. Our goal was simple: to create more opportunities to get to know each other beyond our continuing education events. And what a success it has been! From bowling and game shows to baseball and pickleball, each event brought something unique and reminded us how much fun it can be to be part of this amazing optometric community. It has been especially exciting to see new faces joining us and friendships forming along the way.
Our final SDCOS Connect mixer of the year was our Pickleball Social at Mission Bay, and what a fantastic turnout! We had a lesson for those of us who were beginners and some friendly competition for our more seasoned players. The beautiful Mission Bay setting made the afternoon even more memorable, and we ended the evening enjoying food, drinks, and a gorgeous San Diego sunset. It was the perfect way to wrap up a year of bringing our community closer together!
While our mixers have been a highlight, we still have some exciting events ahead!
Our next continuing education event will be November 19, featuring a discussion on ocular nutrition! I am personally very excited about this topic because it is something my patients ask me about all the time. What can they do to protect their vision? Are there certain foods or supplements that can help maintain healthy eyes? I look forward to learning more about how we can incorporate nutritional guidance into our conversations with patients and help them take a proactive approach to their ocular health.
And of course, we can’t end the year without a celebration! Our final event of 2026 will be our highly anticipated SDCOS Holiday Party on Friday, December 4, at 6:00 PM at Del Mar Social! This year’s theme is PROM, so get ready to dress up, dance, and relive a little high school nostalgia (hopefully with better outfits and dance moves!). Be sure to register now before ticket prices increase!
A special thank-you to Avulux for sponsoring this year’s holiday celebration. We are incredibly grateful for their support! And here’s a fun little reminder: if you see their representative at the party, be sure to wish him a happy birthday! December 4 happens to be his birthday, and we are thrilled he will be celebrating with us.
As my year as SDCOS President comes to a close, I want to express how truly grateful I am for this experience. It has been an absolute pleasure and honor to serve as your president. To our members, thank you for showing up, participating, bringing your energy, and helping us bring the fun back to SDCOS. Your enthusiasm is what makes this society so special.
I also want to extend an especially heartfelt thank-you to our incredible Board of Directors. Your dedication, creativity, countless hours of hard work, and willingness to embrace new ideas have been invaluable. None of this year’s successes would have been possible without you, and I am so fortunate to have worked alongside such an amazing team.
My hope is that the connections we’ve built this year continue to grow well beyond 2026. Keep inviting your colleagues, welcoming new members, and spreading the word about everything SDCOS has to offer. Together, we can keep this momentum going and continue building a society that supports not only our profession, but also the friendships and community that make being an optometrist in San Diego so special.
Thank you all for an unforgettable year. Let’s finish 2026 with a bang, and I’ll see you at PROM!
Happy Holidays,
Sloan Rajadhyksha OD, FAAO, FCOVD
Our final SDCOS Connect mixer of the year: pickleball, good company, and food and drinks at Covewood in Mission Bay.
Upcoming CE Meeting (Save the date!)
- Location: WestPac Headquarters: 5280 Carroll Canyon Rd Suite 300, San Diego, CA 92121
- November 19th, 6-9pm - 2 hr CE
- Featuring Dr. Ryan Powell. Topic: Elevating Care with Ocular Nutrition
On-site childcare is available. After you register, email sdcos@sdcos.org with your name and the number and ages of your children by November 16.
Register here.
View Full 2026 Calendar
SDCOS Annual Holiday Party: Prom Night!
Remember the anticipation of prom night? The outfit, the music, the magic of a night that felt like anything could happen? This December, we're bringing it all back.
Whether you're reliving your glory days or finally getting the prom experience you deserved, this is your night. Trade your white coat or scrubs for something a little more fabulous and join your fellow SDCOS members for an unforgettable evening.
- Date: Friday, December 4, 2026 at 6:00 PM
- Venue: Del Mar Social, Del Mar, CA
- Tickets: $75/person (members) | $90/person (non-members)
- Includes: Open bar, Mediterranean feast with vegetarian and vegan options, and a Speakeasy hidden bar experience
Your corsage is optional. Your presence is not.
Scan the QR code or RSVP here.
Volunteer Outreach
Lindo Park Elementary hosted a Lions Optometric Vision Clinic (LOVC) vision initiative in early October. Students from several other schools were also screened by the district nurse and referred for exams.
Drs. White and Meisel performed 40 exams. Most students needed prescriptions, and a few were referred for binocular vision care. LOVC is providing the eyewear for the students.
Dr. White and Dr. Meisel conducting eye exams for students at Lindo Park Elementary School through the Lions Optometric Vision Clinic (LOVC) La Mesa-Spring Valley program.
Volunteer Opportunities: Give Back this Fall and Beyond
There are several meaningful opportunities for SDCOS members to volunteer their time and expertise this season. Whether you are passionate about serving veterans, supporting underserved youth, or providing care across the border, there is a place for you.
1. LOVC La Mesa-Spring Valley Vision Screenings The LOVC initiative with the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District is underway, with portable vision clinics already running at Title 1 schools since late September. This program brings essential vision screenings and care directly to students who need it most.
Volunteers are needed to join Dr. Eric White or Dr. Bob Meisel for the remaining school year dates. Here is what is still available:
1 OD needed:
- December 4: Highlands
- February 5: Spring Valley Academy
- February 19: Bancroft
2 ODs needed:
- January 8: Rancho
- February 26: STEAM
- March 5: Maryland Avenue
- April 16: Sweetwater Springs
If you can commit to any of these dates, please contact Michael Brandenburg at mbrandenburg@cox.net. For any questions, contact Dr. Bob Meisel at rmeisel47@gmail.com. No date is too far out to sign up now. These clinics fill up and the kids are counting on us!
2. North County Stand Down for Veterans The North County Stand Down will be held November 19-21 at Felicita Park in Escondido, 9am to 4pm daily. ODs and opticians are needed all three days to provide eye care services to our local veteran community. This is a high-impact event and every volunteer makes a difference. For more information, visit https://ncstanddown.org/
3. San Diego State Flying Samaritans: Volunteer ODs are needed for two upcoming clinic dates in Tijuana:
- November 15
- December 6
Please note that these clinics require an all-day commitment. Transportation can be provided if needed. While speaking Spanish is helpful, a translator and a scribe can be provided at the optometrist's request. If you are interested in joining this team for either date, please email fsoptometrysdsu@gmail.com
OMD Corner
What's up, Doc?
Mihir “Max” Parikh MD
Chief Vision Correction Surgeon
NVision La Jolla
How do you manage a new patient coming into your office for the first time because they have symptomatic presbyopia? Their eyes are now failing them. Reading their phone, dinner menus, and computer work is a struggle and is causing noticeable eye fatigue. Their interest in reading glasses is low because they make them feel old, less attractive, less healthy, and not always available on demand in their busy lifestyle. I would argue PALS (progressive addition lenses) may work for a few, but it will take strong sales skills; the patient likely won't wear them full time, and they will almost certainly seek another opinion from a friend, neighbor, social media, or maybe even another doctor.
My first suggestion would be to try a mild monovision in their non-dominant eye in the phoropter; if they tolerate it, try it in a trial frame, then possibly a daily contact lens. If they like the vision after a day of wearing it in their daily activities, they can begin life in contacts, or I would recommend LASIK surgery to mimic the vision in their contact lens. Of course, LASIK will not last their entire adult life, but it will buy them many more years without glasses. Who doesn't like being rejuvenated? They can use LASIK again to address presbyopia as it worsens or augment it with the next-best surgical technology available at the time. Currently, the latter option is refractive lens exchange, which works well with the long list of lens options we can now implant.
But if they do not like the idea of daily reading glasses, do not like the monovision concept, and they are not motivated to have surgery yet, then what about the presbyopia eye drops?
Five topical products are currently FDA-approved or have FDA labeling for presbyopia; I will briefly review the approval history, mechanisms, and practical duration of effect.
As you know, pharmacologic presbyopia therapy does not restore true accommodation. All currently approved topical agents improve near vision primarily via pupil modulation — four of them are parasympathetic-mediated miosis, creating a pinhole effect that increases depth of focus. Some agents also produce mild ciliary muscle contraction, contributing to near vision improvement. The AAO Refractive Errors and Refractive Surgery Preferred Practice Patterns recognize topical therapy as an established nonsurgical option for presbyopia, including pilocarpine HCl 1.25% as the first FDA-approved agent.
Advise patients that these drops provide temporary improvement in near vision for 6 to 10 hours, depending on the agent and concentration, and do not prevent progression of presbyopia. Dilated fundus examination is recommended before initiation, and adverse events should be reported to MedWatch.
The Five Products
1. Pilocarpine HCl 1.25% Ophthalmic Solution — VUITY (Allergan/AbbVie)
- FDA Approval: October 28, 2021 — First topical agent approved for presbyopia.
- Dosing: 1 drop in each eye once daily.
- Clinical profile from GEMINI 1 and GEMINI 2 Phase 3 trials: once-daily bilateral dosing for 30 days, with primary efficacy at hour 3 on day 30. At the time of approval, it was the only FDA-approved eye drop for presbyopia.
2. Pilocarpine HCl 0.4% Ophthalmic Solution — QLOSI (CSF-1, Orasis Pharmaceuticals)
- FDA Approval: October 2023
- Dosing: 1 drop in each eye twice daily (morning dose, repeat 2-3 hours later) for approximately 2 weeks per labeling period studied. Developed as CSF-1 0.4% pilocarpine with a proprietary vehicle; diclofenac showed no significant contribution, and CSF-1 alone advanced to Phase 3 NEAR-1 and NEAR-2 trials.
- Lower concentrations aim to balance efficacy with fewer adverse events such as headache, hyperemia, and blurred vision.
3. Aceclidine Ophthalmic Solution 1.44% — VIZZ (Lenz Therapeutics, LNZ100)
- FDA Approval: July 31, 2025
- Dosing: 1 drop in each eye once daily.
- Labeled indication: treatment of presbyopia in adults. Aceclidine is a selective muscarinic agonist evaluated in the CLARITY-1 (NCT05656027) and CLARITY-2 (NCT05728944), Phase 3 trials and the 6-month long-term safety study CLARITY-3 (NCT05753189). The most common adverse reactions were instillation site irritation (20%), blurred vision (16%), and headache (13%).
4. Carbachol 2.75% / Brimonidine Tartrate 0.1% Ophthalmic Solution — YUVEZZI (Visus Therapeutics, BRIMOCHOL)
- FDA Labeling: 2025-2026 — Fixed-combination miotic.
- Dosing: 1 drop in each eye once daily (investigated as BRIMOCHOL and BRIMOCHOL F in Phase 2 crossover studies vs carbachol alone). Brand name: Yuvezzi. Common adverse reactions include eye pain and visual impairment (1-10%).
5. Ryzumvi (phentolamine ophthalmic solution 0.75%, Opus Genetics/Viatris) received FDA supplemental approval on October 16, 2026 for the treatment of presbyopia in adults, expanding its 2023 indication for pharmacologically induced mydriasis. Unlike the first four approved medications, this non-selective alpha-1 and alpha-2 adrenergic antagonist reversibly binds iris dilator receptors to reduce pupil diameter with no effect on the ciliary muscle; it is dosed as 1 drop in both eyes once daily at night. Efficacy was shown in VEGA-2 and VEGA-3 (n=902, age 40-64): 22.6% (VEGA-2) and 27.2% (VEGA-3) gained ≥15 letters DCNVA at 40 cm without losing ≥5 letters BCDVA at Day 8, 12h post-dose vs 11.0% and 11.5% vehicle (p<0.01). Most common adverse reactions were conjunctival hyperemia 21% and instillation site irritation 16%.
Summary Table
SDCOS Member Spotlight: Dr. Chantelle Davis
Say hello to Dr. Chantelle Davis, our featured member for November!
Dr. Davis practices in private practice with a focus on myopia management and dry eye. A graduate of the New England College of Optometry, Class of 2018, she brings both skill and heart to the patients she serves.
Her favorite part of the job is building relationships and improving children's vision, helping young patients see the world more clearly.
If she weren't an OD, she'd be an event coordinator. We'd happily RSVP!
The last good book she read was Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. A great pick for your next reading list.
When she's not in the exam room, Dr. Davis's favorite thing to do in San Diego is take her two kids to the zoo with her husband.
Her advice to her younger self: Be kinder to your mom as a teenager. Honest, sweet, and something many of us can relate to!
Thank you, Dr. Davis, for sharing your story with the SDCOS community!
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