II 109th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2480 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 29, 2006 Mr. Bennett (for himself and Mr. Leahy) 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 with respect to the availability of contact lenses.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Contact Lens Consumer Protection Act.

2.

Contact lens consumer protection

The Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (15 U.S.C. 7601 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 7, the following new section:

7A.

Policy regarding the availability of contact lenses

(a)

In General

A manufacturer shall make any contact lens the manufacturer produces, markets, distributes, or sells available in a commercially reasonable and nondiscriminatory manner to— (1)prescribers; (2)entities associated with prescribers; and (3)alternative channels of distribution. (b)

Exclusion

(1)

In general

For purposes of this section, the term contact lens does not include lenses that are described in paragraph (2). (2)

Lenses described

The lenses described in this paragraph include— (A)rigid gas permeable lenses; (B)bitoric gas permeable lenses; (C)bifocal gas permeable lenses; (D)keratoconus lenses; (E)custom soft toric lenses; and (F)any other custom designed lenses that are manufactured for an individual patient and are not mass marketed or mass produced. (c)

Definitions

In this section: (1)

Alternative channels of distribution

The term alternative channels of distribution means any mail order company, Internet retailer, pharmacy, buying club, department store, or mass merchandise outlet, without regard to whether the entity is associated with a prescriber, unless the entity is a competitor as defined in paragraph (2). (2)

Competitor

The term competitor means an entity that manufactures contact lenses and sells the lenses in direct competition with another manufacturer. (3)

Manufacturer

The term manufacturer includes the manufacturer and the parent company of the manufacturer, and any subsidiaries, affiliates, successors, and assigns of the manufacturer. (d)

Safe Harbor for Manufacturers

Nothing in this section shall be deemed to impose on a manufacturer an obligation to— (1)sell to a competitor; (2)sell contact lenses to different contact lens distributors or customers at the same price, consistent with applicable Federal law; (3)open or maintain any account for a seller who is not in substantial compliance with this Act; (4)decide whether to sell to a low volume account directly or through a distributor; or (5)make available to sellers in all geographic areas lenses that are being test marketed on a limited basis in one geographic area. (e)

Rulemaking

The Federal Trade Commission shall prescribe rules to carry out this section in the same manner as set forth under section 8 of this Act and any rule prescribed under this section shall take effect not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. (f)

Violations

Any violation of this section or the rules required under subsection (e) shall be treated in the same manner as provided for under section 9 of this Act.

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