The AOA calls it “misguided.”
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is accepting public comments on its proposed contact lens rule through Jan. 30.
After that, “regulators will consider posting a final rule or revised proposal at a future date,” according to the American Optometric Association.
The AOA calls the proposed rule “misguided.”
“We need involvement and activism of all of our colleagues in our small but powerful profession to get this misguided proposal changed,” said Dr. Andrea P. Thau, AOA president. “Doctors not connected to the AOA and their state associations should join us now and help amplify our message to Washington, D.C.”
The key change would be that contact lens prescribers would need to get patients to sign an acknowledgment with this language: “My eye care professional provided me with a copy of my contact lens prescription at the completion of my contact lens fitting, and; I understand I am free to purchase contact lenses from the seller of my choice.”
The prescriber would need to keep the acknowledgment for at least three years.
Comments can be provided directly to the FTC by clicking here.
All comments submitted to the agency become part of the publicly accessible record of the rule-making process. The AOA has created a sample message “to let FTC officials know where optometry stands.”
AOA is accepting comments about the FTC proposal from doctors seeking to preserve privacy. The organization says it “will ensure that every doctors’ views are appropriately reflected, without identification, in the AOA’s formal response to the agency.”
You can submit private comments to the AOA at president@aoa.org.
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