NEW RIGHTS FOR AMERICA’S 45 MILLION CONTACT LENS CONSUMERS

FTC’s Updated Contact Lens Rules Is Now In Effect

After more than five years of thoughtful work, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Updated Contact Lens Rule (CLR) went into effect on October 16. The new CLR, which was approved by a bipartisan and unanimous ruling, strengthens critical consumer protections to help ensure competition, choice and convenience for people who wear and purchase contact lenses.

The Coalition for Contact Lens Consumer Choice, a bipartisan coalition of consumer and taxpayer groups, think tanks and companies who compete against each other in the marketplace, applauds the FTC for their work and reiterates our commitment to educating contact lens consumers about their rights.

To that end, the Coalition is releasing a new one-page info sheet for consumers. This document outlines their rights under the FTC’s updated Contact Lens Rule which can be found on the Coalition’s web site keepcontactlenschoice.com.

Many Americans do not know that they have a legal right to their own contact lens prescription. The Fairness to Contact Lens Consumer Act, and subsequent Contact Lens Rule, ensures that a contact lens consumer does not have to purchase lenses from their prescriber and that the prescriber must provide a copy of the prescription after the exam. This allows consumers to shop around for the best prices, best service, and most convenience. The prescriber must also release a copy of the prescription to a third-party seller that the consumer may designate.

Thanks to the updated rule, the FTC now has the tool they need to enforce against prescribers who violate the law. If you suspect an eye care prescriber is violating the Contact Lens Rule, report it to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint.

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You can read the statement here.