AN OVERVIEW

Sydney Knight, Attorney

Division of Advertising Practices

Federal Trade Commission
My comments today reflect my own views. 

They do not necessarily reflect the views 

of the Federal Trade Commission, any 

individual Commissioner.

DISCLAIMER
FAIRNESS TO CONTACT LENS 

CONSUMERS ACT

15 U.S.C. §§ 7601-7610

Statute enacted in 2003
In the decade preceding the 

enactment of the FCLCA , there was a 

tremendous growth in the use of 

contact lenses in the United States, 

and American consumers were 

spending an estimated $3.5 billion 

annually on replacement contact 

lenses.
 Concerns were raised about the lack of 

competitiveness in the industry.
Congress:

 held a series of Congressional 

Hearings; 

 found that existing practices in the 

contact lens industry created an 

unnecessary limitation on the 

consumer’s ability to shop for the 

best price for their contact lenses.
Congress provided a national 

standard whereby prescribers of 

contact lenses must give their 

patients a copy of their 

prescription at the end of a 

contact lens fitting - even if the 

patient doesn’t ask for it.
The Act also imposes a 

requirement that Prescribers verify 

contact lens prescriptions to any 

third party designated by a 

patient.
A prescription is verified if the 

prescriber either: 

1. The prescriber confirms the accuracy of the 

prescription by direct communication with 

the seller, (direct communications includes 

communication by telephone, facsimile, or 

electronic mail);

2. The prescriber corrects any inaccuracy in the 

prescription; or 

3. The prescriber fails to communicate with the 

seller within 8 business hours after receiving 

the request for verification. 
The Act also mandates that: 

 (1) Prescribers may not require the purchase 

of contact lenses from the prescriber or 

another prescriber as a condition of release 

or verification of a prescription; 

 (2) Prescribers may not require the patient to 

pay additional fees as a condition of release 

or verification of a prescription, and 

 (3) Prescribers may not require the patient to 

sign a waiver or release in exchange for the 

release or verification of a prescription.
Implementation and enforcement of 

the FCLCA was left to the FTC.
 

The FTC issued the EyeGlass Rule 

in 1978

Under that rule, an optometrist or 

ophthalmologist must provide a 

patient, at no extra cost, a copy 

of the patient’s eye glass 

prescription upon completion of 

an eye exam.
So when called upon by Congress 

to implement the FCLCA, the FTC 

issued the Contact Lens Rule in 

2004.
The Contact Lens Rule sets forth the 

manner in which the eight-business 

hour verification period would be 

calculated: a business hour is defined 

in the Rule as one hour between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

excluding holidays. 
The Contact Lens Rule also requires that 

sellers of contact lenses maintain certain 

types of records, including the seller’s 

verification requests. 

Such recordkeeping provisions provide the 

FTC with an opportunity to investigate 

whether there has been a Rule violation 

and to seek civil penalties for any such 

violations.
The FTC has investigated and brought cases 

against a number of entities for violation of 

the Contact Lens Rule.

Since the issuance of the Contact Lens Rule 

in 2004, the FTC has brought 10 different 

enforcement actions against various 

individuals and entities. 
See U.S . v. Gene Kim, No. 1:11-cv-05723 (E.D.N.Y. Feb 7, 2012) 

(consent); U.S. v. Royal Tronics, Inc., No. 0:11-cv-62491 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 

27, 2012) (consent); U.S. v. Thy Xuan Ho, No. 1:11-cv-03419 (D. Minn. 

Dec. 27, 2011) (consent); U.S. v. Gothic Lens, LLC, No. 1:11-cv-00159 

(N.D. Ga. Feb. 3, 2011) (consent); U.S. v. Jokeshop, LLC, No. 1:11-cv11221 (D. Mass. Nov. 29, 2011) (consent); U.S. v. Contact Lens Heaven, 

Inc., No. 0:08-cv-61713 (S.D. Fla. Dec. 3, 2008) (consent); U.S. v. Chapin 

N. Wright, II, No. 1:08-cv-11793 (D. Mass. Oct. 31, 2008) (consent); U.S. 

v. BeWild, Inc., No. 2:07-cv-04896 (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 3, 2007) (consent); U.S. 

v. Pretty Eyes, LLC, No. 1:07-cv-02462 (D. Colo. Nov. 28, 2007) 

(consent); U.S. v. Walsh Optical, Inc., No. 2:06-cv-03591 (D.N.J. Aug. 30, 

2006) (consent).
Our settlement orders have provided 

injunctive relief that, among other 

things:

 prohibited the defendants from selling 

contact lenses without obtaining a 

prescription from a consumer; 

 selling contact lenses without verifying 

prescriptions by communicating 

directly with the prescriber; and

 from failing to maintain records of 

prescriptions and verifications.
 The FTC has educational resources available online: 

 The Contact Lens Rule: A Guide for Prescribers and 

Sellers, available at 

http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus62-contact-lensrule-guide-prescribers-and-sellers;

 Complying with the Contact Lens Rule, available at 

http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus63-complyingcontact-lens-rule.

 You may also contact the FTC’s Division of Advertising 

Practices staff directly:

 By phone at 202-326-3090; or 

 By mail to Federal Trade Commission, Division of 

Advertising Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 

600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, NJ-3212, Washington, DC 

20580.