WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) issued the following statement Tuesday after the Federal Trade Commission issued a new regulation designed to improve competition in the contact lens market.

“I have urged the FTC to pursue updates to its Contact Lens Rule for years and am looking forward to thoroughly reviewing these updates issued today,” Sen. Lee said. “It is essential that consumers be made aware of their rights regarding access to their contact lens prescription allowing them to shop for lenses in a competitive market.”

Sen. Lee sent a letter to the FTC asking them to investigate anticompetitive practices in the contact lens market back in 2016. “The rights of contact lens consumers are being repeatedly and openly violated by prescribers who refuse to comply with the FTC’s Contact Lens Rule, which requires doctors to give patients a copy of their prescription so that patients can choose for themselves where they purchase their contact lenses,” Sen. Lee wrote at the time.

You can read the full letter here.