PERSON TO WATCH: JAMES MAZZO

Jim Mazzo, chief executive of Santa Ana-based Advanced Medical Optics Inc., enters 2007 with a few bumps that need to be smoothed out.

Mazzo and his team could face fallout from a late November recall of nearly 3 million bottles of its Complete MoisturePlus contact lens solution after bacteria was found in three batches made in China.

The company's shares have taken a hit after it warned about sales and profits next year. And it stands to lose some Asian business for good, Mazzo said.

Along with contact lens solutions. Advanced Medical makes eye surgery devices, the bigger part of its business.

Mazzo said he expects Advanced Medical to gain in some of its other businesses in 2007, including what he calls "refractive eye-wells," or replacement lenses used in cataract surgeries.

As for vision correction laser devices, Mazzo plans to get Advanced Medical's gear into more chains and increase the number of pricier "custom" laser eye surgical procedures, he said.

-Vita Reed