I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6157 
To modernize the prescription verification process for contact lenses, to clarify 
consumer protections regarding false advertising of contact lenses, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 
Mr. OLSON (for himself and Ms. CASTOR of Florida) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To modernize the prescription verification process for contact 
lenses, to clarify consumer protections regarding false 
advertising of contact lenses, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Contact Lens Con-
sumer Health Protection Act of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT OF CONTACT LENS PRESCRIBER 
VERIFICATION PROCESS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of the Fairness to Con-
tact Lens Consumers Act (15 U.S.C. 7603) is amended— 
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(1) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(7) A toll-free telephone number and email ad-
dress for prescribers to call or email with questions 
relating to a verification request, as required under 
subsection (i).’’; 
(2) in subsection (d)(3)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘, or a similar time as de-
fined by the Federal Trade Commission,’’; 
(B) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘The pre-
scriber’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B) If a prescriber communicates a question 
or concern about the accuracy of the prescription, or 
any other matter relating to the verification of the 
prescription, to a seller through the toll-free tele-
phone service or dedicated email address required 
under subsection (i) before such 8-business-hour pe-
riod has ended, the prescription shall be considered 
unverified until the seller obtains affirmative con-
firmation of the accuracy of the prescription from 
the prescriber.’’; 
(3) by redesignating subsections (e) through (g) 
as subsections (f) through (h), respectively; 
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(4) by amending subsection (f), as redesignated 
by paragraph (3), to read as follows: 
‘‘(f) INVALID PRESCRIPTIONS AND QUESTIONS CON-
CERNING ACCURACY.— 
‘‘(1) INVALID PRESCRIPTIONS.—If a prescriber 
informs a seller before the deadline set forth in sub-
paragraph (A) of subsection (d)(3) that the contact 
lens prescription is inaccurate, expired, or otherwise 
invalid— 
‘‘(A) the seller shall not fill the prescrip-
tion; and 
‘‘(B) the prescriber shall specify the basis 
for the inaccuracy or invalidity of the prescrip-
tion. 
‘‘(2) QUESTIONS CONCERNING ACCURACY.—If a 
prescriber communicates a question or concern 
about the accuracy of a prescription as described in 
subsection (d)(3)(B) before the deadline set forth in 
such subsection— 
‘‘(A) the seller shall not fill the prescrip-
tion; and 
‘‘(B) the prescriber shall provide the seller 
with an accurate prescription. 
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‘‘(3) CORRECTION.—In any case, if the pre-
scription communicated by the seller to the pre-
scriber is inaccurate, the prescriber shall correct it.’’; 
(5) by adding after subsection (d) the following: 
‘‘(e) PRESCRIBER PREFERRED METHOD OF COMMU-
NICATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A prescriber may provide 
written notification to a seller requesting that all re-
quests for verification from that seller be commu-
nicated to that prescriber by that prescriber’s pre-
ferred method or methods of communication, se-
lected from among the methods of communication 
offered by the seller pursuant to paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) METHODS
OFFERED.—Each seller shall 
offer a prescriber methods for communication for se-
lection as the prescriber’s preferred method or meth-
ods of communication under paragraph (1). Such 
offer— 
‘‘(A) shall include— 
‘‘(i) live telephone; 
‘‘(ii) facsimile; and 
‘‘(iii) email; and 
‘‘(B) may include such additional methods 
of communication as the seller considers appro-
priate. 
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‘‘(3) REQUIREMENT.—In a case in which a pre-
scriber, pursuant to paragraph (1), provides written 
notification to a seller indicating a preferred method 
or methods of communication as described in such 
paragraph, the seller may only request verification 
from the prescriber through the method or methods 
indicated.’’; and 
(6) by inserting after subsection (h), as redesig-
nated by paragraph (3), the following: 
‘‘(i) TELEPHONE SERVICE AND DEDICATED EMAIL 
ADDRESS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A seller of contact lenses 
who requests verification of any contact lens pre-
scription shall provide— 
‘‘(A) a toll-free telephone service that is 
operable during regular business hours and op-
erated by live persons; and 
‘‘(B) a dedicated email address for the sole 
purpose of responding to prescribers’ questions 
and concerns regarding verification requests. 
‘‘(2) CAPACITY.—Such toll-free telephone serv-
ice shall maintain a sufficient number of working 
telephone lines operated by live persons to enable 
ready access by prescribers to the service.’’. 
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 180 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF PROHIBITION ON ALTERATION 
OF CONTACT LENS PRESCRIPTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (f) of section 4 of the 
Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (15 U.S.C. 
7603) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(f) NO ALTERATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A seller may not alter a 
contact lens prescription and when dispensing a con-
tact lens prescription, may only dispense such pre-
scription exactly as written by the prescriber. 
‘‘(2) PRIVATE LABELS.—In a case in which a 
private label contact lens is included on the contact 
lens prescription and the same contact lens is manu-
factured by the same company and sold under mul-
tiple labels to individual providers, the seller may fill 
the prescription with a contact lens of exactly the 
same material, design, and power as manufactured 
by that company under another label.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 180 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS FOR IMPROVED RECORDKEEPING 
BY SELLERS OF CONTACT LENSES. 
Section 4(b) of the Fairness to Contact Lens Con-
sumers Act (15 U.S.C. 7603(b)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘A seller’’ and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) COMMUNICATIONS
GENERALLY.—A sell-
er’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) PRESCRIPTIONS.—Each seller shall main-
tain a database that includes, for each prescription 
received by a seller, the following: 
‘‘(A) The date on which the prescription 
was issued. 
‘‘(B) The specified expiration date of the 
prescription. 
‘‘(3) PREFERRED
METHODS
OF
COMMUNICA-
TION.—For each written notification that a seller re-
ceives under subsection (e)(1), the seller shall keep 
a copy of such notification for a period of not less 
than 3 years.’’. 
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SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON REPRESENTATION IN ADVER-
TISING THAT PRESCRIPTIONS FOR CONTACT 
LENSES MAY BE FILLED AFTER EXPIRATION 
DATE. 
Section 6 of the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers 
Act (15 U.S.C. 7605) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘that contact’’ and inserting the 
following: ‘‘that— 
‘‘(1) contact’’; 
(2) in paragraph (1), as designated by para-
graph (1) of this section, by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) a prescription for a contact lens may be 
filled after the expiration date of the prescription.’’. 
SEC. 6. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR SELLERS OF CONTACT 
LENSES WHO VIOLATE REQUIREMENTS RE-
LATING TO PRESCRIBER VERIFICATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of section 9 of the 
Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (15 U.S.C. 
7608) is amended by striking the period at the end and 
inserting ‘‘, except that fines imposed for a violation of 
section 4 of this Act may be in an amount up to $40,000 
per violation.’’. 
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(b) CLARIFICATION OF APPLICABILITY.—Such sec-
tion is further amended by adding at the end the following 
new subsection: 
‘‘(c) APPLICABILITY.—This chapter shall apply to all 
sales of contact lenses in the United States and the sellers 
involved in such sales, notwithstanding where the seller 
is located.’’. 
SEC. 7. CONTACT LENS CONSUMER COMPLIANCE AND 
SAFETY STUDY. 
(a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, acting through the Director of the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and Prevention, shall conduct a 
study to examine the adverse and potentially adverse ef-
fects on consumers of violations by sellers of the Fairness 
to Contact Lens Consumers Act (15 U.S.C. 7601 et seq.), 
as amended by section 2, particularly with respect to mat-
ters regarding prescription verification, business practices, 
and enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission of 
such Act. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The study required by subsection 
(a) shall specifically address the following: 
(1) The overfilling of prescriptions with quan-
tities of lenses such that the normal expiration dates 
of the prescriptions will be exceeded. 
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(2) The dispensing of prescriptions that have 
expired or are inaccurate. 
(3) The failure by a seller to allow prescribers 
to contact the seller within 8 business hours to ad-
vise that a prescription is inaccurate or expired. 
(4) The health risks to the consumer of receiv-
ing an incorrect prescription from a seller, or issues 
with patient access to the medically prescribed con-
tact lenses. 
(5) The economic risks to the consumer of re-
ceiving an incorrect prescription from a seller. 
(6) The improper advertising to consumers 
about what constitutes a valid prescription or valid 
prescription information, or advertising that no pre-
scription is needed. 
(7) Such other matters regarding the effects on 
the health of the consumers from violations of the 
verification or sales requirements of the Fairness to 
Contact Lens Consumers Act (15 U.S.C. 7601 et 
seq.) as the Secretary considers appropriate. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 
to Congress and the Federal Trade Commission a report 
on the study required by subsection (a). 
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SEC. 8. MODIFICATION OF DEFINITIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 11 of the Fairness to 
Contact Lens Consumers Act (15 U.S.C. 7610) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in paragraph (3), by amending subpara-
graph (E) to read as follows: 
‘‘(E) Power, material, manufacturer, or de-
vice name.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) BUSINESS
HOUR.—The term ‘business 
hour’ means, with respect to a prescriber, any hour 
during a business day within the period beginning at 
9:00 in the morning and ending at 5:00 in the 
evening in the time zone of the prescriber. 
‘‘(5) BUSINESS DAY.—The term ‘business day’ 
means any day other than Saturday and Sunday and 
other than a legal holiday (within the meaning of 
section 7503 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986).’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 180 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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