Contact Lens Consumer Protection Act
Key claim: This bill would require contact lens makers to sell mass-produced lenses on equal, commercially reasonable terms to both eye doctors and other retailers such as online sellers, with the FTC writing rules and treating violations as unfair or deceptive practices.
Abstract
(S2480 · 109th Congress) Contact Lens Consumer Protection Act - Amends the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act to require contact lens manufacturers to make the lenses available in a commercially reasonable and nondiscriminatory manner to: (1) prescribers and associated entities; and (2) alternative channels of distribution. (Excludes specified types of lenses, including lenses that are custom designed and manufactured for an individual patient and are not mass produced or marketed.) Requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prescribe rules to carry out this Act. Treats violations of this Act as unfair or deceptive acts or practices. Latest action (2006-03-29): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Why this matters
The bill targets a longstanding tension in the contact lens market: whether manufacturers can restrict distribution to eye care practitioners, limiting online and third-party retailers’ ability to compete on price. If enacted, it would have expanded consumer choice and potentially lowered lens prices by forcing equal supply terms, enforced through FTC rulemaking. As introduced-only 2006 legislation with no further action, it stands as historical context rather than active policy.