BUSINESS BUZZ: Sioux Falls doctor in national commercial
By Rob Swenson
Sioux Falls Business Journal
Tuesday, 29 January 2008
Dr. Alison Tendler says with a laugh that she’s never acted, not even in a school play.
Despite her lack of stage experience, the Sioux Falls ophthalmologist is featured prominently in a new national TV and print advertising campaign.
Friends from coast to coast have recognized her in ads for Restasis, a prescription remedy for dry eyes.
Tendler says she didn’t act for the ads, either. She uses the product herself, and her patients have had good success with it.
“I was saying things I truly believe in,” she says. “It was neat playing myself. How hard can that be?”
Tendler works at Sanford Clinic Vance Thompson Vision. She was among the professional eye-care providers recommended for the part in the national ad campaign by regional representatives of Allergan, the company that produces Restasis.
Her compensation for the work essentially was spending a week in Los Angeles in November, when the film and photographs were shot.
“I had a fabulous time. It was so different from what I normally do, and I loved it,” Tendler says.
The LASIK procedure is the right answer for most patients who are considering refractive surgery to improve their vision. However, in patients with higher degrees of nearsightedness or farsightedness, the cornea may be too thin to allow full refractive correction.
In these cases, surgical implants may be the best alternative. These special devices are placed in the eyes to improve their focusing ability.
