AOA supports new US contact lens bill

The American Optometric Association (AOA) has announced its support for the Contact Lens Consumer Health Protection Act of 2016, a bill introduced by Senator Bill Cassidy, for more effective Federal enforcement of contact lens patient health and prescription verification safeguards.

The bill was to target an array of schemes being used by ‘unscrupulous internet sellers’, said a statement by the AOA. It would set out to hold sellers accountable for deceptive, abusive and illegal sales tactics, especially those that caused patient harm.

AOA president Steven Loomis said: ‘As a medical doctor and leader in Congress on patient health and safety, Senator Cassidy is taking decisive action to ensure that internet sellers of contact lenses who violate the law and place patients at risk will be held accountable.