This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
AOA expresses support for contact lens prescription release legislation
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
The American Optometric Association recently discussed HR 3140 (the Burr Bill), the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act, in a telephone press conference.
“The goal of this bill is to gain some regulation of the sellers and to again affirm that contacts are being ordered with a valid prescription,” said Victor Connors, OD, current AOA president. “It also seeks to ensure that the prescription is being honored as written, that there was no substitution.”
In general, the AOA is satisfied with the legislation, said J. Pat Cummings, OD, immediate past president of the AOA. “Overall, we are comfortable with the bill itself,” he said.
The Federal Trade Commission has announced its support of the bill, stating that it promotes greater competition and enhances consumer choice.
Details of the bill
The bill’s central requirement is that sellers of contact lenses verify the accuracy of the consumer’s lens prescription with the prescribing optometrist or ophthalmologist.
There are two approaches to this verification: “passive” and “active” verification, according to an FTC document. Passive verification requires that the third-party seller notify the party who provided the prescription, and if the seller does not hear from the provider, he or she may assume that there is no problem and fill the prescription. Active verification requires a response before the seller can fill the prescription. According to the AOA, the pending legislation adopts a passive system with a minimum response time of 8 business hours once the seller actually achieves direct communication with the prescriber.
The bill would also require that optometrists and ophthalmologists provide contact lens wearers with copies of their prescriptions.
According to Dr. Connors, the FTC will help to bring about interstate commerce in contact lens sales. “For the states that have passed laws trying to regulate the placement of contact lenses, their ability to enforce their laws is limited. It is difficult for them,” Dr. Connors said. “They rely on their state’s attorney general. The FTC is able to have much more of an effect as far as the enforcement of rules than each state attorney general.”
Advantages and disadvantages
According to Dr. Connors, some states perceive that they have suffered setbacks regarding the 8 business-hour response time specified in the bill.
“Some of the states had an open verification process —active verification with no time limit,” he said. “With this bill, that will be pre-empted and it will be completely fleshed out in the rule-making process. It will be a minimum of 8 business hours. We hope to expand upon that if we can show that it is, indeed, necessary.”
According to Dr. Cummings, the bill makes it easier to prosecute vendors selling lenses without a prescription.
“The other piece is the extent to which information needs to travel between the seller and the doctor as far as the verification of the prescription,” Dr. Cummings said. “In a lot of the states, you will find that this bill has stronger language than those they already have.”
Dr. Cummings said that although the 8-hour verification has created the most concern among AOA members, the AOA has been able to convince many ODs of its validity. “Some states have a longer time frame than that, and some states have a time frame where if it is not verified at all, then it would not be shipped,” he said. “With the Burr bill, that was not going to be in the cards. But we have been able to explain to our members why this particular issue came about, why we chose to accept this language.”
He said it is the goal of the AOA and its members to unite on this issue. “As we explained it to our members, the positives of the bill have started to become apparent,” Dr. Cummings said. “They realized that in the long run, we can put this issue behind us and move forward. We think we have come up with a workable solution to protect the interests of everybody as best we can.”
Dr. Cummings did acknowledge that there are a few aspects of the bill that the AOA would like to modify. “There are some points that we will seek clarification on, for example, defining ‘direct communication’ in the bill,” he said, “for the sake of both the seller and the prescriber. And the 8 hours is left a little bit open, so we have the opportunity to address that if we find justification.”
But, in general, he said the AOA is satisfied that the legislation provides an opportunity to address seller abuses in the marketplace. “Overall, we are comfortable with the bill itself,” he said.
According to the AOA, the bill awaits House consideration. No companion bill has yet been introduced in the Senate.
For Your Information:
- Victor Connors, OD, is president of the American Optometric Association. He can be reached at 6602 University Ave., Middleton, WI 53562; (608) 831-3366; fax: (608) 831-8470; e-mail: vjconnors@aoa.org.
- J. Pat Cummings, OD, is immediate past president of the AOA. He can be reached at 116 South Main St., Sheridan, WY 82801; (307) 674-7331; fax: (307) 674-8042; e-mail: JPCummings@aoa.org.
- The American Optometric Association can be reached at 243 N. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63141; (314) 991-4100; fax: (314) 991-4101; www.aoa.org.