Latest News Deadline Nears for Filing Comments on FTC’s Proposed Changes to Contact Lens Rule By Staff Wednesday, January 25, 2017 12:18 AM WASHINGTON, D.C.—The deadline for submitting comments to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) proposed changes to the current Contact Lens Rule is Monday, Jan. 30, 2017. As VMail reported, the FTC in November 2016 proposed a number of key changes to the existing rules around the dispensing of contact lenses and the rights of consumers. The current regulations were issued in 2004, and FTC is updating the regulation as required. Among the FTC’s proposed changes: prescribers would be required to obtain a signed acknowledgment from each contact lens patient that states: “My eyecare 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.”Prescribers would be required to keep a copy of this signed acknowledgement on file (either hard copy or an electronic version) for at least three years, according to the FTC’s proposed rule changes.The proposal has drawn a strong response from both contact lens suppliers and retailers who have offered discount pricing on contact lens prescriptions. For example, in a note to ECPs this week, Johnson & Johnson urged providers to submit comments to the FTC before the next week’s deadline and noted that the proposed changes “could significantly impact eye care providers and their businesses… There is just one week remaining to share with FTC how these proposed changes will affect patients’ safety and the future of practices across the country.” On the other side of the issue, the Coalition for Contact Lens Consumer Choice on its website endorsing the FTC’s proposed changes to the rule. The Coalition for Contact Lens Consumer Choice’s membership includes 1-800 Contacts, Costco Wholesale and Lens.com. According to the FTC’s proposal, comments can be filed online or on paper through Jan. 30. Online comments can be submitted here.