A companion bill to S. 2777 aims to hold online sellers of contact lenses accountable for deceptive or illegal sales tactics that may threaten patient health.
The recent announcement that 1-800 Contacts has partnered with online eye exam provider Opternative to offer consumers eye exams online has rocked the optometry community. What can we learn from this announcement, and what should we do?
1-800 Contacts will begin offering the Opternative online refraction service to its customers on its website, branding the partnership as “InstaRx powered by Opternative.”
1-800 Contacts is ramping up its fight against organized optometry at the state and federal levels over legislation that would change important aspects of contact lens prescriptions and dispensing, such as longer expiration dates, elimination of contact lens brand on the Rx, and enacting a contact lens patient bill of rights.
The American Optometric Association (AOA) has called upon the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to strengthen its Contact Lens Rule to prevent its manipulation by contact lens retailers for their own financial benefits, causing potential harm to patients.
Since 2013, one by one, the four major contact lens manufacturers (Johnson & Johnson, Alcon, Bausch + Lomb, and CooperVision) have enacted pricing policies that seek to limit what contact lens discounters can charge for certain products.
The American Optometric Association (AOA) recently updated several state associations on legislation which is backed by online contact lens retailer 1-800 CONTACTS.