Attorney General's News Release

May 12, 1997

Contact lens manufacturer to offer $35 rebate to consumers under proposed agreement with Nixon

Jefferson City, Mo. — Consumers who purchase CIBA Vision replacement contact lenses will receive a $35 rebate and other benefits under a proposed agreement involving 25 states, including Missouri, Attorney General Jay Nixon announced today.

CIBA Vision Corp., a leading manufacturer of replacement lenses, is a defendant in an antitrust lawsuit brought by the states, who claim contact lens makers and optometrists conspired to artificially raise the price of lenses by attempting to eliminate competition to licensed eye care practitioners from other sources for replacement lenses.

CIBA will offer the rebate to people who purchase the lenses to settle the antitrust claims brought by the states and private class litigants. CIBA also will pay $5 million into a court-administered settlement fund and will continue recent changes in its policy of lens distribution as part of the agreement, which must be approved by a federal judge in Florida.

Nixon and the other attorneys general filed the suit in federal court last December against CIBA, Bausch& Lomb, Johnson &Johnson subsidiary Vistakon and several individual optometrists and optometric associations, including the American Optometric Association. The attorneys general claimed the defendants conspired to not sell replacement contact lenses directly to alternative channels of distribution, including mail order companies and pharmacies, thereby raising the price of lenses.

Under the agreement, CIBA will provide a $35 cash rebate to consumers after they purchase four multi-packs of certain CIBA lenses, plus free coupons for other lens care products. The total value of the rebate and the coupons is between $40 and $43, Nixon said. Consumers of contact lenses who qualify will be able to make their claims simply by calling an 800 number or by contacting an Internet address; that information will become available after court approval of the agreement.

Since early last year, CIBA Vision has changed its distribution policy to provide for a new channel of trade, including mail order, pharmacy and other alternative channels of distribution. Those channels may now contract to act as authorized sellers of CIBA contact lenses. As part of its settlement, CIBA agrees to keep this new policy in place for at least five years.

The other manufacturers involved in the lawsuit have not changed their restrictive distribution policies, Nixon said, and this settlement does not end the states' lawsuit or the private class actions against Vistakon, Bausch & Lomb, eight optometric associations and 11 optometrists.

The other states participating in the settlement and in the federal lawsuits are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The state of Florida took part in the settlement but had previously settled with CIBA before filing its own lawsuit, which did not name CIBA.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818