Key members of the Healthcare Alliance for Patient Safety (APS) convened on Capitol Hill on October 30th to brief congressional staff on the dangers of counterfeit contact lenses. Joining Dr. Gary Orsborn, CooperVision’s Global VP of Professional and Clinical Services were Dr. Deanna Alexander (APS), Dr. Malvina Eydelman (FDA), Dr. Thomas Swinnen (J&J Vision Care), and Dr. Bob Theaker (AOA).
According to the APS coverage of the event, “Staff learned that while a significant number of dangerous, counterfeit contact lenses are sold online from suspect retailers or seized upon being imported, some make it into local novelty stores.” They further highlighted a 2017 FDA study that found that 60% of counterfeit lenses tested positive for microbial contamination – a major public health concern. Dr. Orsborn introduced congressional staffers to the process of designing and manufacturing soft contact lenses and why the integrity of that process is important for patient safety.
CooperVision is a charter member of the APS and continues to advocate for safe contact lens practices that keep the doctor central to patients’ contact lens wearing experience, both through its activities with the APS and through individual efforts such as the submission of comments to the FTC regarding the ongoing review of the Contact Lens Rule.
