The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in close collaboration with their partners, has organized Contact Lens Health Week as a strategy to increase public awareness and promote healthy contact lens wear and care. 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured action from 37 retailers who were selling unlawful and potentially dangerous contact lenses in Texas. The businesses have made refunds available to affected people and will pay more than $140,000 in civil penalties and attorneys’ fees to the state of Texas. The AG’s Consumer Protection Division recommends that patients “always visit a licensed optometrist…for proper fitting of contact lenses.”

An investigation in March 2016 by the AG's office began after the San Antonio Police Department discovered over 20 retailers selling contact lenses without requiring prescriptions. Following information stemming from this investigation, the attorney general's office was able to find further rulebreaking from contact lens distributors, located primarily in San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas. 

Read the full press release on the Texas Attorney General website. You can also find the full list of the 37 targeted store owners and wholesale distribution companies here.

On February 14, 2018, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee held the Federal Trade Commission Nominees Confirmation Hearing for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) nominees: Rohit Chopra, Noah Phillips, Christine Wilson, and Joseph Simons, who was nominated to be the commission’s chair. The nominees provided testimony on a range of issues, including antitrust laws, prescription drug pricing, credit rating agencies, and the expansive influence of big tech companies like Google and Facebook.

This clip features Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) questioning the nominees on modifications to the Contact Lens Rule currently under consideration by the FTC. 

The Health Care Alliance for Patient Safety is pleased to learn that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has notified Opternative that their online eye examination is in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Though APS supports the development of telehealth to offer better access to Americans, this action by the FDA further demonstrates that online applications cannot currently replace the benefit a patient receives from an in-person, comprehensive eye exam.

Our Alliance and member organizations – which include the American Optometric Association (AOA), Johnson & Johnson Vision, and CooperVision – will continue to advocate for policies that increase patient safety, promote access to quality health care and protect the doctor-patient relationship.

Johnson & Johnson Vision President for North America, Peter Menziuso, provides his company's perspective on how the contact lens rule can continue to provide benefits to patients and promote the safe use of contact lenses.