Johnson and Johnson Drops Minimum Pricing Requirements on Acuvue Line

Pricing policy to be replaced with a rewards program only available at doctor’s offices.

Johnson & Johnson has dropped its minimum pricing requirements for its Acuvue brand of contact lenses, “paving the way for looming price wars,” CNN Money reports. The article says that discount contacts retailers like 1-800 Contacts have long opposed the pricing policy, arguing that contact lenses could be much cheaper without it. Johnson & Johnson will replace its policy with a rewards program that can only be used at doctor’s offices – hoping that it will be enough of an incentive for patients to not buy from discounters.

“The patient comes first,” Millicent Knight, head of professional affairs for Johnson & Johnson’s vision care business, told the news outlet. "We believe that it is in the best interest of the patient to see an eye doctor on a regular basis, and we will continue to advocate state by state to protect that relationship."

Read more at CNN Money