HARTFORD, Conn.—In the final hours of the 2017 legislative regular session, the Senate in Connecticut voted unanimously late Tuesday night to approve a bill that will limit the use of some new technologies in issuing or refilling prescriptions for contact lenses.

As VMail reported earlier this week, the Connecticut state legislature is scheduled to adjourn today (June 7). If the Senate had not approved the bill before the adjournment, it likely would have been dead for this legislative session. The House unanimously voted earlier in the legislative session to approve the proposal, House Bill 6012, “An Act Concerning Consumer Protection in Eye Care.”

The legislation, which was supported by the Connecticut Association of Optometrists (CAO), now awaits a signature by the governor before it can take effect as scheduled, Oct. 1, 2017. CAO has stated in testimony that it believes the legislation will protect consumers from “unproven, un-tested technology.”

The language in the new legislation prohibits the use of information obtained during an eye test with a “remote refractive device” from being used as the only basis for a consumer to secure or refill a contact lens prescription. The wording “remote refractive device” means “automated equipment or an application designed to be used on a telephone, computer or Internet-based device that can be used either in person or remotely to conduct a test.”