[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 106 (Thursday, July 26, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1447]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCTION OF THE CONTACT LENS PRESCRIPTION RELEASE ACT OF 2001

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                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 26, 2001

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, today I join with several colleagues to 
introduce bipartisan legislation, the Contact Lens Prescription Release 
Act of 2001. This bill would enhance consumer fairness in the contact 
lens industry by requiring eyecare professionals to release contact 
lens prescriptions after completing the fitting process.
  Currently, consumers throughout the United States enjoy unobstructed 
access to their eyeglass prescriptions. That's because back in 1973, 
the Federal Trade Commission issued a regulation requiring the 
automatic release of eyeglass prescriptions. Through this regulation, 
the FTC recognized that possession of both the prescription and the 
product constituted an unfair advantage for eye doctors and that 
consumers could safely manage their eyeglass prescriptions.
  At the time, it made sense that this rule was not extended to contact 
lenses, which were a brand new technology. Furthermore, most were hard 
lenses that needed to be ground and fitted to each particular eye. 
Today, the contact lens market looks very different. Thirty-four 
million Americans wear contact lens and 85% of them choose soft 
contacts.
  Contact lenses are fast replacing eyeglasses as the corrective 
instrument of choice for consumers. Yet despite this trend, in most 
states, prescribing eye care professionals can refuse to release 
contact lens prescriptions--even after patients complete the initial 
fitting process and even to longtime contact lens wearers who simply 
need their time-limited prescriptions renewed.
  Eye doctors cite health concerns, yet the reality is they have a 
strong financial incentive to restrict consumer access to the contact 
lens market. Without their contact lens prescription, consumers are 
often forced to purchase contact lens from their prescribing eye 
doctor.
  With contact lens wearers effectively denied the right to receive 
their own prescriptions, anti-competitive behavior has flourished. In 
fact, the American Optometric Association and Johnson & Johnson's, 
maker of the popular ACUVUE disposable contact lens, just reached a 
preliminary settlement in an antitrust lawsuit filed by the attorneys 
general of 32 states.
  The attorneys general alleged that defendants conspired both to force 
consumers to buy replacement contact lenses from eye care professionals 
only and to eliminate competition from alternative distributors, 
including pharmacies,
  While the resolution of these anti-trust lawsuits is a step toward 
putting contact lens wearers on equal footing with eyeglass wearers, 
more action is needed. Contact lens wearers must be assured the same 
access to their prescriptions that eyeglass wearers currently enjoy. 
Yet the FTC has repeatedly failed to update its rule and extend 
prescription release requirements to contact lenses. This does not bode 
well for consumers. It means that in many states, people who wear 
contact lens cannot shop around for the best value and quality 
products.
  In fact, this is exactly what happened to my wife back in 1994. 
Despite her request, this doctor refused to release her prescription, 
but was more than happy to sell her contacts through his professional 
office. At the time, it struck me as fundamentally unfair that eye 
doctors stand to profit from holding their patients captive. It still 
does.
  My wife's predicament is hardly unique. Over the past few years, 
Consumers Union has issued several reports detailing similar problems 
in Texas. A 1997 survey found that 65% of Texas optometrists refused to 
release contact lens prescriptions upon request, yet 91% of these same 
individuals did not hesitate to fill a prescription released by another 
eye doctor. Where are the health concerns here?
  The time has more than come for contact lens wearers to enjoy the 
same rights as eyeglass wearers. The Contact Lens Prescription Release 
Act would require the FTC to promulgate a prescription release rule for 
contact lenses paralleling the 1973 rule for eyeglasses. This would 
require eyecare professionals to release a patient's contact lens 
prescription to the patient after completing the fitting process. Upon 
request, contact lens prescriptions must also be released to an agent 
of the patient, such as an alternate contact lens distributor. 
Furthermore, eyecare professionals must promptly verify the information 
contained in a patient's prescription when an agent of the patient 
contacts them for such verification. To ensure that consumers are 
protected from misleading advertisements, the contact Lens Prescription 
Release Act would also make it an unfair trade practice to state or 
imply that contact lenses can be purchased without a valid 
prescription.
  I encourage my colleagues to join me in support of this important 
legislation, what has been endorsed by Consumers Union. There is 
absolutely no reason for the law to be inconsistent relative to vision 
correction by eyeglasses vs. contact lenses. More fundamentally, there 
is no reason why any American should be denied the basic right to 
receive their prescription, whether they wear eyeglasses, contact 
lenses, or both.

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