The revised Contact Lens Rule of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) went into effect in October 2020, but implementation was later delayed to March 2021. Among other things, the Rule allows contact lens “sellers” to substitute contact lenses for “private label lenses” if “the substitute lenses are made by the same manufacturer and are identical to the prescribed lenses.” One year later, I think it is an important time to reflect on our collective experience with the Rule.

Many practitioners voiced concern over the burdensome nature of the Rule, and this has not changed. However, you probably noticed the recent Department of Justice’s (DoJ) and FTC’s announcement of a $3.5 million penalty against Hubble Contacts (https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/online-contact-lens-company-ordered-pay-35-million-civil-penalties-and-consumer-redress ). The statement specifically draws attention to the violation of the FTC’s Contact Lens Rule “by selling contact lenses online without taking the steps required to verify the subscriber’s contact lens prescription, improperly substituting Hubble’s own brand of contact lenses for those originally prescribed by the eyecare practitioners and procuring what it falsely portrayed as independent consumer review of its products and services.” While practitioner concerns remain, we should all celebrate this enforcement action taken by the DoJ and FTC against a wayward contact lens distributor. This should be viewed as a significant win by the contact lens community, a step toward protecting our patients, and a strong message to other wayward contact lens sellers.

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