Citing the need for stronger consumer safeguards on contact

lens sales, U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield on Tuesday sponsored the Contact Lens Consumer Health Protection Act, a bill to protect consumers who buy contact lenses from third-party vendors.

"Contact lenses are regulated medical devices requiring a valid prescription from a licensed doctor. Third-party vendors that overfill prescriptions or who do not verify the prescriptions they are filling endanger the health and welfare of the customers they claim to serve. This legislation will ensure the proper balance of consumer choice and the health and safety of the American public," said Whitfield.

In 2003, the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (FCLCA) was signed into law, allowing consumers greater access to their prescription records so they can more easily purchase contact lenses from third-party vendors. Under the law, a third-party vendor must confirm the validity of a prescription with the prescribing doctor before dispensing contact lenses to a patient, and a prescribing doctor has up to eight hours to respond to the inquiry. If the doctor does not respond within the allotted time, the vendor may assume the prescription is valid and proceed with the sale.

In practice, the prescription verification requirements of the FCLCA have

been routinely ignored or abused by some third-party vendors. Many doctors cite the use of an automated telephone system that can repeatedly call eye and vision care offices with lengthy and sometimes unintelligible inquiries. Attempts by doctors to provide important patient information in response are frequently met with busy signals, unattended voice mailboxes or incomplete or disconnected calls.

Other vendors apparently make little or no attempt to verify prescriptions at all. In one major instance, a doctor in Texas found that 17 consecutive contact lens orders that he had tracked were filled without proper verification of his patients' prescriptions. The Federal Trade Commission recognizes there is a problem and, over the last year, has issued official warnings and other enforcement actions targeting the deficient prescription verification practices of certain Internet and mail order contact lens sellers.

The Contact Lens Consumer Health Protection Act would allow optometrists to specify to third-party vendors their preference for fax, e-mail or telephone prescription verification purposes. Vendors would then be required to attempt at least two of the three communication choices. Vendors who fail to comply with the prescription verification requirements would be subject to fines up to $100,000 per violation.

The Contact Lens Consumer Health Protection Act has strong support in the medical community, receiving endorsements from the American Optometric Association, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and the Kentucky Optometric Association.

"Prescription verification abuse by third-party contact lens vendors is a

significant problem. Completing contact lens sales without properly

verifying a patient's medical history is an unacceptable business practice and clearly contrary to the best interest of consumers' health. This legislation will facilitate communication between doctors and third-party vendors, ensuring that patients receive products that are safe and compatible with their documented medical history," added Whitfield.