This week, APS wrote Michigan lawmakers to voice concerns about HB4356, which jeopardizes the vision health of roughly 1.5 million contact lens-wearing patients in Michigan.

HB 4356 places the commercial interests of certain retailers ahead of patient health and safety by removing the critical doctor-patient relationship from the center of care. This undermines the foundation of current patient protection standards and will lead to more cases of improper dispensing and use of contact lenses, which already cause nearly 1 million additional health care visits and $175 million in added healthcare costs each year.

Read the full letter to Michigan lawmakers here.

The Health Care Alliance for Patient Safety (APS) today sent a letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp urging him to protect his constituents’ vision safety by maintaining Georgia’s strong safeguards that ensure vision exams are conducted by doctors and that vision care decisions are made in close consultation between the patient and eyecare provider. Read the letter here.

The Health Care Alliance for Patient Safety (APS) sent a formal letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asking for immediate action to protect the vision safety of patients across the country amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Read the letter here.

Rep. David P. Roe, M.D. sent a letter to the FTC, asking it to reconsider proposed changes to the Contact Lens Rule that would impose burdens on doctors of optometry while not stopping illegal sales of contact lenses by online retailers. Read the letter here.

Senator Martin Heinrich wrote a letter to the FTC voicing his concerns that the proposed changes to the Contact Lens Rule would unfairly burden small optometry practices. Read the full text of the letter below or by clicking here. 

California Democrats in the House of Representatives sent a letter to the Commissioner of the FTC, urging the commission to reconsider proposed changes to the Contact Lens Rule that would unfairly burden doctors of optometry without protecting patient safety. Read the full letter here. 

Rep. Jeff Denham led 7 members of Congress in a letter to the FTC. The Congressmen emphasize the unfair burdens to doctors of optometry and lack of enforcement of patient safety concerns in the proposed changes in the Contact Lens Rule. Read the full text of the letter here. 

Senator Heidi Heitkamp sent a letter to the FTC raising concerns about online contact lens distributors not requiring customers to have a valid prescription. Senator Heitkamp outlines several of the dangers of this activity. The full text of the letter is below, and can be viewed here as well.

Senator John Hoeven wrote a letter to the FTC voicing his concerns that the proposed changes to the Contact Lens Rule would unfairly burden small optometry practices in his home state and urging the commission to reconsider the rule. The full text of the letter is below, and can be viewed here as well.

Senator David Perdue wrote a letter to the FTC urging that they reconsider their proposed changes to the Contact Lens Rule that would unnecessarily hinder small optometry practices across the country. The full text of the letter is below, and can be viewed here as well.