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AOA opposes FDA’s plan to rule plano tinted contact lenses cosmetic

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WASHINGTON – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering a plan to reclassify tinted contact lenses that do not correct vision as cosmetic devices rather than medical devices. In response, the American Optometric Association expressed to Tommy Thompson, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, that this action raises serious health concerns.

In a letter to Sec. Thompson, J. Pat Cummings, OD, AOA president, said “the very real health considerations associated with improper fit and wearing of lenses apply equally to both non-corrective and corrective power lenses. On behalf of the nation’s 30,000 plus doctors of optometry and their patients, we urge your immediate intervention to prevent implementation of this ill-founded proposal.”

Congressman Henry A. Waxman, ranking majority member of the House Committee on Government Reform also wrote in a letter to Sec. Thompson, “FDA’s plan to deregulate colored contact lenses may prove to be a financial windfall for some companies, but it will penalize real people, including teenagers, who will wind up with severe eye infections, painful corneal disease and even blindness.”