Persistence of Lions Catches Amblyopia for Young Boy
Thanks to the dedication of Lions during the summer of 2007, Brett Hallemeier is now seeing clearly. Brett was just two years old when his mother Constance had him screened while visiting the St. Louis Science Center. A few weeks later Constance was notified that Brett showed signs of amblyopia.

“I was quite stunned when I received the postcard with a letter stating we needed to take Brett to an ophthalmologist,” said Constance. “We hadn’t noticed anything that made us think that Brett couldn’t see perfectly fine.”

Although there is a strong family history of amblyopia, Constance said she did not know how early amblyopia needed to be detected to be corrected. Upon visiting an eye doctor, Brett’s left eye was diagnosed with amblyopia. Constance was told that because Brett’s right eye had perfect vision, his brain would choose to see out of that eye, with the left eye continuing to weaken until it would have been useless.

To begin correcting his vision, Brett was fitted for glasses and had his right eye patched for two hours a day. Constance said Brett is benefiting from his glasses because he now asks to have them on. "Also, Brett is looking at books more," Constance said. "And we know that when he is older, having the (vision) correction will help him academically."

Because of the early intervention and subsequent treatment, Constance said Brett's vision began to improve within a few weeks of his patching and glasses. According to Brett's ophthalmologist, the vision in his left eye should eventually improve to within one line on an eye chart of his right eye.

“I would like to say thank you for the persistence of the gentleman at the Science Center who asked me five times to get Brett screened. I feel as if God was standing there encouraging me to get Brett screened because he knew I needed to know about his lazy eye,” Constance said.

Missouri Legislature Passes Bill Establishing First-Person Consent for Eye, Organ and Tissue Donation

The Missouri State Legislature passed the Uniform Anatomical Gifts Act (SB 1139) on Thursday, May 8, approving the establishment of first-person consent for persons wishing to become eye, organ and tissue donors.

The bill now goes to the desk of Governor Matt Blunt, who has expressed support of the UAGA bill and it is anticipated the Governor will sign the bill into law. The Uniform Anatomical Gifts Act will go into effect August 28, 2008.

Under the UAGA, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services “shall establish a first person consent organ and tissue donor registry. Any individual who agrees to have his or her name in the registry has given full legal consent to the donation of any of his or her organs or tissues upon death and as recorded in the registry.”

“The aim of the UAGA is not to make it much easier to become a donor, but to help ensure that all people who do want to donate their eye, organs and tissues are legally allowed to do so,” said Ron Walkenbach, executive director of the Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation and Heartland Lions Eye Banks .