This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Vistakon clarifies agreement with 1-800 CONTACTS
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — A few months ago, Vistakon, a division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc., announced that it had reached an agreement with 1-800 CONTACTS designed to prevent expired or invalid Acuvue contact lens prescriptions from being filled. Primary Care Optometry News recently spoke with Vistakon President Phil Keefer, who clarified the reason for this agreement.
Under the terms of the agreement, consumers are required to submit valid prescriptions prior to the shipping of contact lenses. If a prescription is not available or is expired, 1-800 CONTACTS agreed to contact the patient’s eye care practitioner to approve or deny a shipment of Acuvue lenses. The agreement provides the practitioner with 8 business hours to respond to 1-800 CONTACTS.
In 2001, Vistakon was the last of four groups to settle a contact lens antitrust lawsuit. Under the terms of that settlement, Vistakon agreed to sell Acuvue lenses “to appropriate alternate channels of distribution, provided that such businesses sell contact lenses only to consumers based upon a valid prescription and in compliance with all federal and state laws and regulations regarding the sale or dispensing of contact lenses.”
Since that settlement was made, Mr. Keefer said the presiding judge ruled that the state attorneys general have the final determination as to whether they will take any action to enforce their states’ contact lens dispensing laws.
Because these regulations were not being enforced, and because the Food and Drug Administration re-issued its guidelines saying the states had the final authority when determining the duration and enforcement of any violation of contact lens dispensing laws, Mr. Keefer said Vistakon decided it had no other option. He said the current agreement affords Vistakon some degree of control over the sale of Acuvue lenses. “We could either allow the grey market to continue to operate and have these companies sell our products with no restrictions at all, or we could come to some sort of contractual agreement,” Mr. Keefer told PCON.
He added that 8 business hours may seem a brief period of time for an eye care professional (ECP) to respond to a fax from 1-800 CONTACTS, but it is actually more reasonable than it may seem. “This basically gives the doctor 24 hours,” he said. “So if they are off on a Wednesday or it’s a Saturday or they are on holiday, they have time to respond. By responding, the ECP is in control. They can tell 1-800 CONTACTS that the prescription is not valid, and it will not be shipped to the patient. If the prescription is valid and the ECP notifies 1-800 of the expiration date, 1-800 has to honor it the next time the patient orders.
“By not responding, the ECP creates passive verification,” Mr. Keefer continued. “Many ECPs have asked why passive verification can be allowed, because it would not be tolerated if the product were a prescription drug. We completely agree, but in both cases, it is up to the attorney general to decide whether to enforce the law.”
Regarding plans by 1-800 CONTACTS to distribute its own brand of contact lens, Mr. Keefer said: “They can only be sold if an ECP prescribes them. We believe that 1-800 wants to provide the patient with the lenses they are ordering.