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FTC to host public workshop on contact lens marketplace
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The Federal Trade Commission will hold a public workshop in Washington on March 7 to explore issues regarding competition in the contact lens marketplace, consumer access to contact lenses, prescription release and portability and similar issues.
The workshop is being held in conjunction with the commission’s regulatory review of the Contact Lens Rule, according to an announcement from the FTC.
A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was issued in December 2016 announcing proposed changes to the Commission’s Contact Lens Rule.
The rule, in place since August 2004, promotes competition in the retail sale of contact lenses by facilitating consumers’ ability to comparison shop for contact lenses and imposes obligations on both eye care prescribers and contact lens sellers.
Specifically, the rule requires the prescriber to automatically provide the patient with a complete copy of the contact lens prescription and to verify or provide the prescription to authorized third parties.
The workshop will be organized into panels, and panelists will be selected by the FTC.
The FTC welcomes written comments on the issues to be discussed at the workshop. Interested parties may file a comment online at: https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/contactlensworkshop.
The workshop is free and open to the public and will be held at the Constitution Center, 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC. It will be webcast live on the FTC’s website.