WASHINGTON—According to the Health Care Alliance for Patient Safety, four members of the U.S. House have reintroduced the Contact Lens Prescription Verification Modernization Act (HR 3353). The bipartisan legislation was introduced by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Rep. David McKinley (R-Wa.). The legislation "will modernize the contact lens prescription verification process and make it simpler and safer for millions of contact lens wearers," according to a statement by the Alliance.

The move to reintroduce this legislation comes about six weeks after the Federal Trade Commission’s revised Contact Lens Rule and its paperwork requirements went back into effect April 1. The FTC's new rule and its requirements had been suspended for several months during the previous session of Congress, as VMAIL reported. 

In late December, Congress moved to delay the effective date and enforcement of the updated rule, which was first announced in mid-2020. The updated rule includes record-keeping requirements that many ECPs view as onerous.

H.R. 3353 increases patient safety by prohibiting prescription verification made via robocall and establishing a paper trail by instead requiring that online sellers use direct communication—e-mail, live phone call, or fax—to confirm prescriptions and ensure patients are receiving their prescribed lenses rather than a substitution not approved by an eyecare provider that could put their eye health and vision at risk. The bill also requires online sellers to develop HIPAA-compliant methods for patients to electronically transmit contact lens prescriptions.

Dr. David Cockrell, chairman of the Alliance, said, “The Contact Lens Prescription Verification Modernization Act offers a common sense solution to close a critical loophole in the prescription verification process by ensuring patients receive the exact contact lenses they were prescribed by their doctor. The current antiquated system of verifying contact lens prescriptions too often relies on outdated robocalls, which burden doctor offices and put patients' eye health at risk.”

He added, “The Alliance thanks representatives Rush, Burgess, Blunt Rochester and McKinley for reintroducing this bill in the 117th Congress. We applaud their strong commitment to protecting patient eye health.”

The American Optometric Association (AOA) also acknowledged its support of the newly introduced legislation.

“It is time to fix the robocall, loophole, unscrupulous, internet-based mass contact lens retailers continue to exploit, undermining quality care and needlessly putting patients' health at risk,” AOA president William T. Reynolds said in a post on the association’s website. “The AOA, doctors of optometry and the patients they serve in communities across the country thank Reps. Rush, Burgess, Rochester and McKinley for their visionary leadership in introducing this bill and for their demonstrated dedication to improving the health and safety of millions of contact lens-wearing Americans.”

The reintroduction of the Contact Lens Prescription Verification Modernization Act comes after the bill garnered 74 cosponsors in the 116th Congress, the Alliance statement said.

Millions of Americans can purchase their contact lenses online thanks to the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (FCLCA). However, as a patient health safeguard, the law requires online sellers to verify the validity of contact lens prescriptions with the patient’s doctor before fulfilling an order.

While the FCLCA clearly allows the use of telephone, fax, or e-mail for verifying prescriptions, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has interpreted the law to also allow for robocall verification.

According to the Alliance’s statement, “confirming the accuracy of contact lens prescriptions, which includes several specifications, is far too complicated for an automated phone system or robocall. Information relayed in these robocalls is oftentimes garbled or does not align with a patient’s medical record—making it difficult, or even impossible, for a doctor to correctly identify the patient and proper prescription within the eight-hour passive verification window.”

More than 45 million Americans rely on contact lenses—U.S. Food and Drug Administration Class II and Class III regulated medical devices—for safe and effective vision correction.