03 February 2022
New York-based company, Vision Path, will pay $3.5 million (£2.59 million) to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that the company breached the Contact Lens Rule (CLR).
The company is the online seller of direct-to-consumer Hubble contact lenses.
Vision Path was presented with a range of allegations by the FTC, including that the company failed to obtain prescriptions or properly verify prescription information.
It is claimed that Vision Path failed to disclose that many reviews of Hubble lenses were written by people who were compensated for their reviews, and in one instance, by one of the company’s own executives.
FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection director, Samuel Levine, shared that the action made it clear that companies would pay a price for breaching the CLR and using misleading reviews.
“Hubble’s business model boosted its bottom line but created needless risk for its customers’ eye health,” he said.
Providing background to the case, the FTC shared that Hubble has sold its own brand of daily contact lenses through its website since October 2016.
Hubble’s business model boosted its bottom line but created needless risk for its customers’ eye health
The lenses are marketed both through social media and television advertisements in the US.
Customers sign up for a ‘free’ initial shipment of 15 pairs of lenses (except for a nominal postage fee) and then are automatically enrolled in a monthly subscription.
The FTC complaint alleged that Hubble would not typically require a copy of a customer’s contact lens prescription – and did not allow customers to upload or email their prescription even when they offered to take this step.
Hubble would contact a customer’s prescriber to verify the prescription of Hubble lenses, but the system used to do this made it challenging for prescribers to verify whether the prescription was correct.
In some cases, no verification calls were made and in others messages were left at telephone numbers that were clearly not an eye care provider.
“These practices violated the CLR and resulted in many consumers receiving lenses they had not been fitted for,” the FTC stated.
Hubble also faced allegations that a free month of contact lenses was provided in exchange for a favourable review and that it failed to disclose that some reviews were written by people with a direct connection to the company.
The consent order settling the complaint requires the company to pay a civil penalty of $1.5 million and $2 million in redress to provide refunds to customers who were harmed by the conduct of the company.
Asked for his view on the decision, secretary general of the Association of Contact Lens Manufacturers, Simon Rodwell, emphasised that the FTC announcement seems “very clear.”
“Contact lenses are medical devices for which there are detailed regulations in place to protect members of the public. The firm advice is always to follow the recommendations of your qualified practitioner. Price is not a good determinant of quality – nor of suitability for your individual needs,” he said.
British Contact Lens Association chief executive, Luke Stevens-Burt, highlighted that there is “no room for risk” when it comes to eye health.
“All contact lens wearers should follow the advice of their qualified eye care practitioner,” Stevens-Burt emphasised.
He highlighted the results of a recent Contact Lens & Anterior Eye study that reaffirmed the need for contact lens wearers only to be prescribed contact lenses that are suitable for their individual needs.
“The expertise of a qualified, registered ECP is pivotal to safe care. Unscrupulous practice by retailers that side-step requirements threaten public health and undermine the crucial role of ECPs,” Stevens-Burt shared.
At the end of last year, the General Optical Council consulted on a revised illegal strategy and protocol in the UK.
The AOP has highlighted the importance of managing the risks of buying contact lenses online through its #KnowYourLenses campaign.
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Anonymous10 February 2022
It’s a crime that our GOC doesn’t have the teeth/inclination to fine illegal CL internet sales in the UK. Every week I discover my patients using the likes of Lenstore, Lenses Direct and the like who happily post out lenses with no prescription and with no regard to when their last contact lens aftercare took place. Shameful, but not surprising to me in the least with the GOC (and the AOP and Optometry Today) being in the pockets of the Multiples. Just watch this post get deleted.
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