Free Enterprise Is Not Free

BY JOSEPH T. BARR, O.D., M.S., Editor
FEB. 1996

Every U.S. citizen should be required to pass a course in free enterprise before graduating from high school. Then maybe there would be fewer debacles like the recent "consumer alert" on contact lenses aired on Dateline NBC. This was not just an attack on one unfortunate company, but on the entire contact lens industry.

Actually, this editorial was prompted by two things -- the Dateline program and a widely distributed letter from Drs. Irwin and Thomas Azman of Lutherville, Md. According to them, the Dateline story was one-sided, focused entirely on cost and used only one proof source (perhaps the only optometrist in the country who didn't know that B&L's Medalist and SeeQuence 2 lenses are the same lens).

Leah Thompson's "investigation" for Dateline revealed that "there are dozens of lenses and solutions at various prices all claiming unique benefits." Gosh, could it be that free enterprise still exists in the United States?

Rick Ellis, the attorney who reported that this "fraud" (you know, the same kind of fraud we see every day at the supermarket with pork and beans, shampoo and toothpaste) could amount to as much as $200 million dollars, but apparently neither he nor Dateline could offer any evidence to support this.

Mr. Ellis won my heartiest guffaws when he said, "The only way you'd ever find out that these were identical is if you read the incredibly small fine print . . . No consumer would have figured that out. It took a physician to figure that out." Of course, Mr. Ellis or Ms. Thompson or even "Connie Consumer" could have just asked B&L. They've always said, yes, these are the same lenses and, yes, they are priced differently (just like that restaurant size can of pork and beans that costs less per ounce than the single-serving can).

Of course, Leah Thompson conveniently left out the fact that doctors who disregard FDA labeling, even in the interest of helping their patients save money, risk serious legal liability.

I know this program is just abbreviated, sensational "journalism," but did anyone consider that how often patients replace and clean their lenses might be an issue too? The Azmans did.

Then Ms. Thompson interviewed our Dr. Aquavella who was honest and forthright. She asked about the difference between the cost of a large bottle of saline and a small bottle, but she ignored some important facts. Manufacturers make more large bottles than small bottles, so yes, the large bottles cost less, but the small bottles last longer because they have a different dropper tip (that probably adds to the manufacturing cost). Yes, Dateline, packaging and handling costs might just be a factor in all of this.

I'm sure Dateline interviewed other doctors who don't think "more for less" is fraud, but apparently those opinions didn't fit the story line.

Neal Bailey taught me that this kind of news was not necessarily bad for contact lenses. But I'm tired of it. It's time to fight back. Get the facts, Dateline! CLS