[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6117 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6117

To amend the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act to require contact 
 lens sellers to provide a toll-free telephone number and a dedicated 
    email address for the purpose of receiving communications from 
                              prescribers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 20, 2006

 Mr. Whitfield (for himself, Mr. Allen, Mr. Norwood, Mr. Boozman, Mr. 
 Lewis of Kentucky, and Mr. Hall) introduced the following bill; which 
          was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act to require contact 
 lens sellers to provide a toll-free telephone number and a dedicated 
    email address for the purpose of receiving communications from 
                              prescribers.

    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 Consumer Health 
Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVED COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN SELLERS AND PRESCRIBERS.

    Section 4 of the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (15 U.S.C. 
7603) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) A toll-free telephone number and email address for 
        prescribers to call or email with questions relating to a 
        verification request, as required under subsection (i).'';
            (2) in subsection (d)(3), by adding at the end the 
        following: ``If a prescriber communicates a question or concern 
        to a seller through the toll-free telephone service or 
        dedicated email address required under subsection (i) before 
        such 8-hour period has ended, the seller must obtain 
        affirmative confirmation of the accuracy of the prescription 
        from the prescriber before the prescription is considered 
        verified.'';
            (3) by redesignating subsection (e) through (g) as 
        subsections (f) through (h), respectively;
            (4) by adding after subsection (d) the following:
    ``(e) Prescriber Preferred Method of Communication.--A prescriber 
may provide written notification to a seller requesting that all 
requests for verification from that seller be communicated to that 
prescriber by that prescriber's preferred method of communication. Such 
preferred method of communication may be by telephone, facsimile, or 
email, or by either of any 2 of those means of communication.''; and
            (5) by inserting after subsection (h) (as so redesignated), 
        the following:
    ``(i) Telephone Service and Dedicated Email Address.--A seller of 
contact lenses who requests verification of any contact lens 
prescription shall provide a toll-free telephone service operable 
during regular business hours and a dedicated email address for the 
sole purpose of responding to prescribers' questions and concerns 
regarding verification requests. Such toll-free telephone service shall 
maintain a sufficient number of working telephone lines to enable ready 
access by prescribers to the service.''.

SEC. 3. EXPANDED PENALTIES.

    Section 9(b) of the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (15 
U.S.C. 7608(b)) 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 $100,000 per violation.''

SEC. 4. CONSUMER SAFETY STUDY.

    Section 10 of the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (15 U.S.C. 
7609) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Consumer Safety Study.--
            ``(1) Study.--The Federal Trade Commission, in consultation 
        with the Food and Drug Administration, shall undertake a study 
        to examine the adverse and potentially adverse effects on 
        consumers of seller violations of the prescription verification 
        and sales requirements of this Act. The study shall 
        specifically address the following issues:
                    ``(A) The overfilling of prescriptions with 
                quantities of lenses that exceed the normal expiration 
                dates of the prescriptions.
                    ``(B) The dispensing of prescriptions that have 
                expired or are inaccurate.
                    ``(C) The failure by a seller to allow prescribers 
                to contact the seller within 8 business hours to advise 
                that a prescription is inaccurate or expired.
                    ``(D) The health risks to the consumer of receiving 
                the incorrect prescription from a seller.
                    ``(E) The economic risks to the consumer of 
                receiving the incorrect prescription from a seller.
                    ``(F) The improper advertising to consumers about 
                what constitutes a valid prescription or valid 
                prescription information, or advertising that no 
                prescription is needed.
                    ``(G) Any other issue that has an impact on the 
                health of the consumer from violations of the 
                verification or sales requirements of this Act.
            ``(2) Report.--Not later than 12 months after the date of 
        enactment of this subsection, the Federal Trade Commission 
        shall transmit to Congress a report of the study required by 
        this subsection.''.
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