Feds Seize 20,000 Pair of “Halloween” Contact Lenses

Survey says 11 percent of consumers have worn them.

The Feds are putting some muscle into their annual campaign against the counterfeit decorative contact lenses that pop up around Halloween. The Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have joined forces to seize 20,000 of the potentially dangerous lenses in 74 locations across the country. According to a recent national study conducted for optometrists, 11 percent of consumers have worn decorative lenses, and of those, 53 percent purchased them without a prescription. In some states, contact lenses are available at gas stations, flea markets, beauty supply shops and pawn shops. “You’d never buy a heart valve at a gas station and you should never buy a medical device like contact lenses at one either,” said Dr. Jeffrey Hackleman, president of the Georgia Optometric Association.

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