[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2609 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2609

    To require the Federal Trade Commission to promulgate a rule to 
establish requirements with respect to the release of prescriptions for 
                contact lenses, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 11, 2002

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To require the Federal Trade Commission to promulgate a rule to 
establish requirements with respect to the release of prescriptions for 
                contact lenses, 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 Prescription Release 
Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. PRESCRIPTIONS FOR CONTACT LENSES.

    (a) Availability of Contact Lens Prescription Information.--No 
later than 9 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Federal Trade Commission shall promulgate a rule under section 553 of 
title 5, United States Code, to require that a prescriber shall, upon 
completion of the contact lens fitting process for a patient--
            (1) provide to the patient a copy of the prescriber's 
        prescription for contact lenses, regardless of whether or not 
        the patient requests such a copy; and
            (2) upon request of the patient or an agent of the 
        patient--
                    (A) provide a copy of such a prescription to the 
                patient or an agent of the patient; or
                    (B) promptly verify to an agent of the patient, 
                including by electronic means, the information 
                contained in such a prescription.
    (b) Expiration of Prescription.--The rule promulgated under 
subsection (a) shall also provide that any contact lens prescription 
shall expire--
            (1) except as provided in paragraph (2), on the later of--
                    (A) the date, if any, provided by the laws of the 
                State that issued the license under the authority of 
                which the prescription is issued; or
                    (B) a date that shall be prescribed by the 
                Commission in the rule; or
            (2) on any expiration date specified by the prescriber that 
        is different than the date that applies under paragraph (1) and 
        that is based on the medical judgment of the prescriber with 
        respect to the patient's ocular health.
    (c) Violations.--Any violation of a rule promulgated under this 
section shall be treated as a violation of a rule under section 18 of 
the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a) regarding unfair or 
deceptive acts or practices.

SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO INDUSTRY MEMBERS.

    (a) Content of Advertisements and Sales Presentations.--No later 
than 9 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal 
Trade Commission shall promulgate a rule under section 553 of title 5, 
United States Code, to make it an unfair or deceptive act or practice 
for any industry member to publish, or cause to be published, any 
advertisement or sales presentation relating to contact lenses that 
represents, directly or by implication, that contact lenses may be 
obtained without a valid prescription.
    (b) Prescription Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--The rule promulgated under this section 
        shall--
                    (A) prohibit selling contact lenses to a consumer 
                unless the seller--
                            (i) obtains a copy of an unexpired 
                        prescription; or
                            (ii) verifies the prescription in 
                        accordance with paragraph (2); and
                    (B) require a seller of contact lenses to--
                            (i) record notifications made pursuant to 
                        paragraph (2)(B) and the responses to such 
                        notifications; and
                            (ii) preserve such records for a period of 
                        time prescribed by the Commission.
            (2) Prescription verification.--The rule promulgated under 
        this section shall provide that a prescription shall be 
        considered verified for purposes of paragraph (1)(A) if the 
        seller--
                    (A) notifies the prescriber that the patient or an 
                agent of the patient seeks contact lenses from the 
                seller; and
                    (B) gives the prescriber a sufficient opportunity 
                (as prescribed in the rule) to correct any errors in 
                the prescription.
    (c) Violations.--Any violation of a rule promulgated under this 
section shall be treated as a violation of a rule under section 18 of 
the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a) regarding unfair or 
deceptive acts or practices.

SEC. 4. EFFECT ON STATE LAW.

    This Act and the regulations issued under this Act shall not affect 
any State law that regulates who is authorized to fit contact lenses.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Trade Commission.
            (2) Completion of the contact lens fitting process.--The 
        term ``completion of the contact lens fitting process'' means 
        completion of the process that--
                    (A) begins after the initial eye examination;
                    (B) includes--
                            (i) an examination to determine what the 
                        lens specifications should be;
                            (ii) except in the case of a renewal of a 
                        prescription, an initial evaluation of the fit 
                        of the lens on the patient's eye; and
                            (iii) followup examinations that are 
                        medically necessary; and
                    (C) ends when--
                            (i) except in the case of a renewal of a 
                        prescription, the prescriber is satisfied that 
                        a successful fit has been achieved; or
                            (ii) in the case of a renewal of a 
                        prescription, the prescriber determines that 
                        there is no change in the prescription.
            (3) Industry member.--The term ``industry member'' means a 
        person that engages in the manufacture, processing, assembly, 
        sale, offering for sale, or distribution of contact lenses.
            (4) Prescriber.--The term ``prescriber'' means an 
        ophthalmologist or optometrist who performs eye examinations 
        under a license issued by a State.
            (5) Prescription.--The term ``prescription'' means the 
        specifications necessary for a patient to obtain contact 
        lenses, that include--
                    (A) all parameters of the contact lenses that are 
                necessary to allow duplication of the lenses;
                    (B) a clear notation that the patient is suitable 
                for contact lenses;
                    (C) the patient's name;
                    (D) the date of the examination on which the 
                prescription is based;
                    (E) the date the prescription is issued;
                    (F) the name, postal address, voice telephone 
                number, and facsimile telephone number of the 
                prescriber that issues the prescription; and
                    (G) the date on which the prescription expires.
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