Costco, J&J Spar Over Contact-Lens Business

[question everything]

Costco Wholesale Corp. , 1-800 Contacts and other retailers attacked newly proposed legislation they say would water down a federal law that opened eye doctors to competition from online sellers and discounters.

The U.S. Senate bill concerning contact lenses was introduced this week by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.), a physician, and Sen. John Boozman (R., Ark.), a former optometrist, and is backed by the American Optometric Association as well as Johnson & Johnson and Alcon, the eye-care unit of Novartis AG .

Unlike most physicians, many optometrists make money from filling the prescriptions they write. They provide eye exams and then sell glasses and contact lenses. But ever since a 2004 federal law required optometrists to give patients their contact-lens prescriptions or allow a retailer to ask on their behalf, many of those sales have moved to online rivals like 1-800 Contacts or discounters like Costco.

Under the 2004 law, a retailer must attempt to verify a contact-lens prescription but can proceed with the sale unless the doctor communicates any concerns within eight hours. The new legislation says a prescription cannot be filled until a retailer obtains “affirmative confirmation” if the doctor raises concerns by phone, fax or email within eight hours. It also requires retailers to provide a toll-free number or email for doctors to communicate concerns.

“We have found repeatedly that [optometrists] block efforts to fill a prescription,” Brian Bethers, chief executive of 1-800 Contacts, said. “This is a very intentional effort to convert passive verification into positive verification.”

(snip)

Costco says the legislation would increase costs for consumers and make it harder to buy contact lenses at its stores. The warehouse club has eye doctors in some of its locations but says around 45% of its contact-lens prescriptions come from outside doctors.

More..

http://www.wsj.com/articles/costco-j-j-spar-over-contact-lens-business-1460749504

[Major Nikon]

1. So the government should support eye-doctors' business model which relies on screwing consumers

Brilliant!

[winstars]

2. 2004, Dem Congress. 2016 Repug Scum Congress. Any questions about what party to vote for?

THEY ARE NOT ALL THE SAME!!!

Its small (big) things like the above that help or hurt us in our daily lives...

[1939]

3. UMM

2004 was GOP. Dem congress from Jan 2007-Jan 2011.

[winstars]

4. Ooops... I only open my mouth to change feet??? Thanks

[danimich1]

5. This is what the law is about

A survey of patients in 2015 results:

"1 in 4 have reported receiving a different contact lens brand than prescribed by their eye doctor, without any advance warning;
1 in 3 have had their online retailer advise them to substitute a non-prescribed lens due to supply issues; and
1 in 3 were able to purchase lenses using an already expired prescription.
Although safe and effective, contact lenses are a medical device and improper use can lead to serious health complications, including infections and other sight threatening conditions. In 2014, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report that concluded that annually there are nearly 1 million emergency room and urgent doctor visits and about $175 million is added to health care costs arising from keratitis, an infection linked to improper contact lens use."

I work for an optometrist. We match 1-800-contacts prices. We have had patients bring in contacts that are not what our doctor prescribed from shady online retailers. They come in because the contacts are not working properly. There's a reason people need to see a doctor for contacts and it's because all eyes are different, and that's why there are different products available. Why people would want to risk their eyesight to save a few dollars from some online retailers is something I don't understand. Those yearly eye exams are important when wearing contacts - what if there is a medical problem that contact wearing might exacerbate? I'm all for saving money, and I look for deals all the time. But contacts are a medical device and enabling optometrists to make sure that people are getting what they prescribed is not a bad thing.