Title: Contact Lens Rule Modernization Act
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Contact Lens Rule Modernization Act
This bill (1) requires prescribers of contact lenses to conspicuously post notice that the prescriber is required to provide a copy of the contact lens prescription to the patient, (2) prohibits prescribers from requiring patients to acknowledge a contact lens prescription release in writing or electronically, and (3) prohibits automated telephone calls to verify a prescription.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4613 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4613

To amend the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act to prevent certain 
 automated calls and to require notice of the availability of contact 
        lens prescriptions to patients, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 17, 2020

    Mr. Boozman (for himself, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Inhofe, and Mr. Paul) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
           Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act to prevent certain 
 automated calls and to require notice of the availability of contact 
        lens prescriptions to patients, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Contact Lens Rule Modernization 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has received over 
        9,000 comments since 2016 related to part 315 of title 16, Code 
        of Federal Regulations (commonly known as the ``Contact Lens 
        Rule''), including letters from over 100 Members of Congress. 
        In addition, the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and 
        the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives 
        have included language 7 times since 2016 urging the FTC to 
        consider patient safety concerns or regulatory burdens in its 
        rulemaking.
            (2) The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recorded over 
        1,075 contact lens-related corneal infections from 2005 to 
        2015, with 20 percent of those patients having permanent vision 
        loss.
            (3) Over the last 20 years, the contact lens marketplace 
        has grown more competitive and diversified, with many new and 
        different types of sellers. As a result, automated phone calls 
        as a means of passive verification of contact lens 
        prescriptions have significantly increased since Congress 
        passed the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (P.L. 108-
        164) in 2003, becoming the primary method of verification used 
        by online sellers.
            (4) Outlining several concerns, the FTC in its Final Notice 
        of Rulemaking, published in the Federal Register on August 17, 
        2020, stated that ``automated telephone calls are a commonly 
        used method of verification. Moreover, these calls impose a 
        cost on prescribers, and there are potential health risks to 
        patients from incomplete and incomprehensible automated 
        telephone requests.'' The FTC also acknowledged that it lacks 
        enforcement capability related to automated calls, stating 
        ``the Commission cannot reliably assess whether that call was 
        compliant and further whether the seller has a pattern of non-
        compliant calls (and selling after such calls).''.
            (5) The FTC has repeatedly acknowledged the ambiguity 
        created by the lack of an explicit statutory ban on automated 
        calls as a means of verification.
            (6) From 2011 to 2016, out of about 200,000,000 contact 
        lens prescriptions written, the FTC received only 309 
        complaints, resulting in 45 letters to prescribers warning of 
        potential Contact Lens Rule violations.
            (7) The FTC's 2020 Final Contact Lens Rule addresses 
        prescription release concerns by significantly increasing the 
        paperwork burden on optometrists and ophthalmologists, 
        requiring that eye care professionals keep a new record signed 
        by the patient (or digitally agreed to) confirming the receipt 
        of each of the 45,000,000 contact lens prescriptions written 
        each year.
            (8) The vast majority of optometrists operate small 
        businesses, with over 80 percent of practices having less than 
        10 employees. The paperwork burden in the FTC's 2020 Final 
        Contact Lens Rule is estimated to cost each practice between 
        $10,000 and $18,000 a year.
            (9) The State of California requires prescribers to post a 
        sign informing patients of their right to receive their 
        prescription.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE FAIRNESS TO CONTACT LENS CONSUMERS ACT.

    (a) Patient Notification.--Section 2(a) of the Fairness to Contact 
Lens Consumers Act (15 U.S.C. 7601(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'';
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) shall post a conspicuous notice that, upon the 
        completion of a contact lens fitting, the prescriber is 
        required to provide a copy of the contact lens prescription to 
        the patient.''.
    (b) Patient Confirmation of Receipt of Contact Lens Prescription.--
Section 2(b) of the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (15 U.S.C. 
7601(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``or'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) require the patient to acknowledge any contact lens 
        prescription release in writing or electronically.''.
    (c) Prohibition on Automated Calls.--Section 4 of the Fairness to 
Contact Lens Consumers Act (15 U.S.C. 7603) is amended by striking 
subsection (g) and inserting the following:
    ``(g) Direct Communication.--
            ``(1) In general.--As used in this section, the term 
        `direct communication' includes communication by telephone, 
        facsimile, or electronic mail.
            ``(2) Clarification.--Such term shall not include a 
        telephone call made using an artificial or prerecorded voice 
        message.''.

SEC. 4. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.

    Section 4(c)(6) of the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (15 
U.S.C. 7603(c)(6)) is amended by inserting ``and electronic mail 
address'' after ``telephone number''.
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