The Rule, effective since August 2004, helps to promote competition in the contact lens market by requiring eye care prescribers to provide a copy of a consumer’s prescription to the consumer after a contact lens fitting is completed and verify with, or provide prescriptions to, authorized contact lens sellers. It also mandates that a contact lens seller may sell contact lenses only in accordance with a prescription the seller has received from the patient or prescriber, or has verified via direct communication with the prescriber.

The Commission vote approving the Federal Register Notice was 5-0. It is available on the FTC's website and as a link to this press release and will be published in the Federal Register soon. Instructions for filing comments appear in the Federal Register Notice. Comments must be received by October 26, 2015. All comments received will be posted at www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. (FTC File No. R511995; the staff contact is Alysa S. Bernstein, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 202-326-3289)

To learn more, read Prescriptions for Eyeglasses and Contact Lenses and Buying Cosmetic Contact Lenses?

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.