IB 

Union Calendar No. 192

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3140

[Report No. 108–318] 

To provide for availability of contact lens prescriptions to patients, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2003

Mr. BURR (for himself, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. STARK, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. ROGERS of 

Michigan, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, and Mr. GIBBONS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

OCTOBER 15, 2003

Additional sponsors: Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. PITTS, Mrs. BONO, Mr. DAVIS of 

Florida, Mr. HENSARLING, and Mr. CARTER

OCTOBER 15, 2003 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on September 23, 2003] 

A BILL

To provide for availability of contact lens prescriptions to 

patients, and for other purposes.
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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fairness to Contact Lens 

5 Consumers Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AVAILABILITY OF CONTACT LENS PRESCRIPTIONS 

7 TO PATIENTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—When a prescriber completes a con9 tact lens fitting, the prescriber—

10 (1) whether or not requested by the patient, shall 

11 provide to the patient a copy of the contact lens pre12 scription; and 

13 (2) shall, as directed by any person designated to 

14 act on behalf of the patient, provide or verify the con15 tact lens prescription by electronic or other means. 

16 (b) LIMITATIONS.—A prescriber may not—

17 (1) require purchase of contact lenses from the 

18 prescriber or from another person as a condition of 

19 providing a copy of a prescription under subsection 

20 (a)(1) or (a)(2) or verification of a prescription 

21 under subsection (a)(2); 

22 (2) require payment in addition to, or as part 

23 of, the fee for an eye examination, fitting, and evalua24 tion as a condition of providing a copy of a prescrip-
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1 tion under subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2) or verification 

2 of a prescription under subsection (a)(2); or 

3 (3) require the patient to sign a waiver or re4 lease as a condition of verifying or releasing a pre5 scription. 

6 SEC. 3. IMMEDIATE PAYMENT OF FEES IN LIMITED CIR7 CUMSTANCES. 

8 A prescriber may require payment of fees for an eye 

9 examination, fitting, and evaluation before the release of 

10 a contact lens prescription, but only if the prescriber re11 quires immediate payment in the case of an examination 

12 that reveals no requirement for ophthalmic goods. For pur13 poses of the preceding sentence, presentation of proof of in14 surance coverage for that service shall be deemed to be a 

15 payment. 

16 SEC. 4. PRESCRIBER VERIFICATION. 

17 (a) PRESCRIPTION REQUIREMENT.—A seller may sell 

18 contact lenses only in accordance with a contact lens pre19 scription for the patient that is—

20 (1) presented to the seller by the patient or pre21 scriber directly or by facsimile; or 

22 (2) verified by direct communication. 

23 (b) RECORD REQUIREMENT.—A seller shall maintain 

24 a record of all direct communications referred to in sub25 section (a). 
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1 (c) INFORMATION.—When seeking verification of a con2 tact lens prescription, a seller shall provide the prescriber 

3 with the following information: 

4 (1) Patient’s full name and address. 

5 (2) Contact lens power, manufacturer, base curve 

6 or appropriate designation, and diameter when ap7 propriate. 

8 (3) Quantity of lenses ordered. 

9 (4) Date of patient request. 

10 (5) Date and time of verification request. 

11 (6) Name of contact person at seller’s company, 

12 including facsimile and telephone number. 

13 (d) VERIFICATION EVENTS.—A prescription is verified 

14 under this Act only if one of the following occurs: 

15 (1) The prescriber confirms the prescription is 

16 accurate by direct communication with the seller. 

17 (2) The prescriber informs the seller that the pre18 scription is inaccurate and provides the accurate pre19 scription. 

20 (3) The prescriber fails to communicate with the 

21 seller within 8 business hours, or a similar time as 

22 defined by the Federal Trade Commission, after re23 ceiving from the seller the information described in 

24 subsection (c).
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1 (e) INVALID PRESCRIPTION.—If a prescriber informs 

2 a seller before the deadline under subsection (d)(3) that the 

3 contact lens prescription is inaccurate, expired, or otherwise 

4 invalid, the seller shall not fill the prescription. The pre5 scriber shall specify the basis for the inaccuracy or inva6 lidity of the prescription. If the prescription communicated 

7 by the seller to the prescriber is inaccurate, the prescriber 

8 shall correct it. 

9 (f) NO ALTERATION.—A seller may not alter a contact 

10 lens prescription. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, 

11 if the same contact lens is manufactured by the same com12 pany and sold under multiple labels to individual pro13 viders, the seller may fill the prescription with a contact 

14 lens manufactured by that company under another label. 

15 (g) DIRECT COMMUNICATION.—As used in this section, 

16 the term ‘‘direct communication’’ includes communication 

17 by telephone, facsimile, or electronic mail. 

18 SEC. 5. EXPIRATION OF CONTACT LENS PRESCRIPTIONS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—A contact lens prescription shall 

20 expire—

21 (1) on the date specified by the law of the State 

22 in which the prescription was written, if that date is 

23 one year or more after the issue date of the prescrip24 tion; 
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1 (2) not less than one year after the issue date of 

2 the prescription if such State law specifies no date or 

3 a date that is less than one year after the issue date 

4 of the prescription; or 

5 (3) notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), on 

6 the date specified by the prescriber, if that date is 

7 based on the medical judgment of the prescriber with 

8 respect to the ocular health of the patient. 

9 (b) SPECIAL RULES FOR PRESCRIPTIONS OF LESS

10 THAN 1 YEAR.—If a prescription expires in less than 1 

11 year, the reasons for the judgment referred to in subsection 

12 (a)(3) shall be documented in the patient’s medical record. 

13 In no circumstance shall the prescription expiration date 

14 be less than the period of time recommended by the pre15 scriber for a reexamination of the patient that is medically 

16 necessary. 

17 (c) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term 

18 ‘‘issue date’’ means the date on which the patient receives 

19 a copy of the prescription. 

20 SEC. 6. CONTENT OF ADVERTISEMENTS AND OTHER REP21 RESENTATIONS. 

22 Any person that engages in the manufacture, proc23 essing, assembly, sale, offering for sale, or distribution of 

24 contact lenses may not represent, by advertisement, sales 
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1 presentation, or otherwise, that contact lenses may be ob2 tained without a prescription. 

3 SEC. 7. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN WAIVERS. 

4 A prescriber may not place on the prescription, or re5 quire the patient to sign, or deliver to the patient a form 

6 or notice waiving or disclaiming the liability or responsi7 bility of the prescriber for the accuracy of the eye examina8 tion. The preceding sentence does not impose liability on 

9 a prescriber for the ophthalmic goods and services dispensed 

10 by another seller pursuant to the prescriber’s correctly 

11 verified prescription. 

12 SEC. 8. RULEMAKING BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. 

13 The Federal Trade Commission shall prescribe rules 

14 pursuant to section 18 of the Federal Trade Commission 

15 Act (15 U.S.C. 57a) to carry out this Act. Rules so pre16 scribed shall be exempt from the requirements of the Magnu17 son-Moss Warranty—Federal Trade Commission Improve18 ment Act (15 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.). Any such regulations 

19 shall be issued in accordance with section 553 of title 5, 

20 United States Code. The first rules under this section shall 

21 take effect not later than 180 days after the effective date 

22 of this Act. 

23 SEC. 9. VIOLATIONS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any violation of this Act or the 

25 rules required under section 8 shall be treated as a violation 
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1 of a rule under section 18 of the Federal Trade Commission 

2 Act (15 U.S.C. 57a) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or 

3 practices. 

4 (b) ACTIONS BY THE COMMISSION.—The Federal 

5 Trade Commission shall enforce this Act in the same man6 ner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, 

7 powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and pro8 visions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 

9 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this 

10 Act. 

11 SEC. 10. STUDY AND REPORT. 

12 (a) STUDY.—The Federal Trade Commission shall un13 dertake a study to examine the strength of competition in 

14 the sale of prescription contact lenses. The study shall in15 clude an examination of the following issues: 

16 (1) Incidence of exclusive relationships between 

17 prescribers or sellers and contact lens manufacturers 

18 and the impact of such relationships on competition. 

19 (2) Difference between online and offline sellers 

20 of contact lenses, including price, access, and avail21 ability. 

22 (3) Incidence, if any, of contact lens prescrip23 tions that specify brand name or custom labeled con24 tact lenses, the reasons for the incidence, and the effect 

25 on consumers and competition.
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1 (4) The impact of the Federal Trade Commission 

2 eyeglasses rule (16 C.F.R. 456 et seq.) on competition, 

3 the nature of the enforcement of the rule, and how 

4 such enforcement has impacted competition. 

5 (5) Any other issue that has an impact on com6 petition in the sale of prescription contact lenses. 

7 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the effec8 tive date of this Act, the Chairman of the Federal Trade 

9 Commission shall submit to the Congress a report of the 

10 study required by subsection (a). 

11 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 

12 As used in this Act: 

13 (1) CONTACT LENS FITTING.—The term ‘‘contact 

14 lens fitting’’ means the process that begins after the 

15 initial eye examination and ends when a successful 

16 fit has been achieved or, in the case of a renewal pre17 scription, ends when the prescriber determines that no 

18 change in prescription is required, and such term 

19 may include—

20 (A) an examination to determine lens speci21 fications; 

22 (B) except in the case of a renewal of a pre23 scription, an initial evaluation of the fit of the 

24 lens on the eye; and 
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1 (C) medically necessary follow up examina2 tions. 

3 (2) PRESCRIBER.—The term ‘‘prescriber’’ means, 

4 with respect to contact lens prescriptions, an ophthal5 mologist, optometrist, or other person permitted under 

6 State law to issue prescriptions for contact lenses in 

7 compliance with any applicable requirements estab8 lished by the Food and Drug Administration. 

9 (3) CONTACT LENS PRESCRIPTION.—The term 

10 ‘‘contact lens prescription’’ means a prescription, 

11 issued in accordance with State and Federal law, that 

12 contains sufficient information for the complete and 

13 accurate filling of a prescription, including the fol14 lowing: 

15 (A) Name of the patient. 

16 (B) Date of examination. 

17 (C) Issue date and expiration date of pre18 scription. 

19 (D) Name, postal address, telephone num20 ber, and facsimile telephone number of pre21 scriber. 

22 (E) Power, material or manufacturer or 

23 both. 

24 (F) Base curve or appropriate designation. 

25 (G) Diameter, when appropriate. 
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1 (H) In the case of a private label contact 

2 lens, name of manufacturer, trade name of pri3 vate label brand, and, if applicable, trade name 

4 of equivalent brand name. 

5 SEC. 12. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

6 This Act shall take effect 60 days after the date of the 

7 enactment of this Act.
Union Calendar No. 192

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3140

[Report No. 108–318] 

A BILL

To provide for availability of contact lens 

prescriptions to patients, and for other purposes. 

OCTOBER 15, 2003

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 

and ordered to be printed