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CooperVision urges FTC to protect patients, competition in Contact Lens Rule
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CooperVision asked the Federal Trade Commission to consider patient safety, the eye care provider’s expertise, stronger enforcement and the use of technology for prescription verification as it evaluates proposed changes to the Contact Lens Rule.
In a letter the company submitted to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) July 29, CooperVision said, “Fostering competition should not come at the expense of patient safety and excellent lens wearing experiences.”
“Patient ocular health and safety should be kept at the forefront of the FTC’s concerns,” CooperVision said in a press release. “Eye care provider expertise in selecting a contact lens for each patient is vital, with no place for brand or prescription substitution.”
CooperVision agreed with the requirement of the Contact Lens Rule that “providing prescriptions to patients is best practice,” but that electronic platforms should play “a larger role in prescriber-seller-wearer communications, as well as the elimination of antiquated robocall verifications in favor of modern written means such as email,” the company said in the release.
The revised Contact Lens Rule should require that sellers routinely ask patients to confirm that a prescription has not expired, CooperVision said in its letter, and the “FTC should increase its efforts for inspecting seller records to ensure that lenses are not being sold on expired prescriptions ... to help achieve a balance of health and safety issues with the consumer rights concerns that the rule is designed to address.”
The company noted in the press release its continued involvement with this issue, including serving on FTC panels, educating congressional and agency officials, and commitment as a charter member of the Health Care Alliance for Patient Safety.