New Contact Lenses Laws Put Responsibility of Consumer

Not too many years ago, people you could go to your eye doctor, get an examine and walk out without your prescription because you refused to purchase the contacts through their office.
But that all changed in 2003, 36 million contact lens wearers gained the right to choose where they buy their contact lenses through the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act, a federal law that requires eye doctors to give patients their contact lens prescriptions. Patients with prescriptions for eyeglasses have had that right for more than 30 years, thanks to a 1973 Federal Trade Commission regulation.

But this new right comes with the responsibility of purchasing and maintaining your contact lenses according to the rules and regulations.

Following the FDA recommendation to buy contact lenses only with a current prescription makes it more likely that the lenses will do the job without hurting the pair of eyes they were meant to help.
Consumers are responsible to check that the lenses received match what the prescription specifies. The FDA advises that the buyer make sure the brand, lens name, power and other eye measurements all agree with the doctor's prescription. No substitution is appropriate, unless the eye doctor approves. Equivalent lens strength is not the only difference among lenses -- various brands differ in water content and shape, as well.

Another part of the contact lens consumers' act requires lens providers to verify the prescription given to them by the buyer. That may be as simple as bringing in the actual piece of paper when buying lenses from a provider in the same locale as the eye doctor who prescribed them.
In the case of a lens supplier based far from the wearer, Internet, phone or mail orders don't require that the written prescription be mailed in.

The seller does have to check with the eye-care provider, though, to verify the prescription. If an eye-care provider does not respond within eight business hours, the prescription is presumed to be accurate and is verified automatically.