Approve My Prescription

The FTC’s Fairness To Contact Lens Consumers Act states that in any sale of contact lenses to US customers a valid prescription must be provided. Customers can provide their own prescription (as dispensed by their optician), or the seller must verify the prescription with the listed prescriber.

This ensures that customers can safely shop from other contact lens sellers rather than just their dispensing optician. With this rule being enforced, US customers can buy non prescription and prescription contact lenses from sellers knowing that they will receive appropriate lenses suited to their prescription and eye condition.

The FCLCA rule dictates specific guidelines and a process that must be adhered to by any retailer intending to sell contacts to US customers. Further details of the FCLCA Contact Lens Rule can be found here.

Approve My Prescription helps US contact lens customers get their purchase verified by a certified prescriber. If a customer does not provide their prescription when they purchase, this system is able to send a verification request on behalf of the customer. This direct communication is required by the FCLCA as it gives the prescriber the opportunity to approve or decline the customer's purchase

With this system, the verification request is forwarded to the prescriber via email. The email will detail all the information required for a prescriber to determine whether or not the client's prescription matched that of the lenses purchased. Customer's suitability for the lenses they have ordered is decided at the prescriber's discretion.

Adhering to the FTC's rule of '8 business hours', the system will auto-approve requests that remain unanswered after this time. It also ensures that sellers are instantly notified if the order has been approved or declined, so the seller can promptly notify the customer.

Our verification request emails contain all information required by the FTC to allow for a valid contact lens purchase. The provided FCLCA guidelines detail that the following information must be provided via direct communication with the prescriber, to allow for a successful approval.

This information includes:

• Patient’s Full Name & Address
• Prescriber’s Full Name & Address
• Seller’s Contact Information
• Specifications of the Contact Lens(es) Purchased
• Quantity Of The Lenses Purchased
• The Time The Order Was Placed
• The Time The Verification Request Was Sent

It is also essential to detail the seller’s stance on ‘Saturday hours’ to ensure that prescribers understand whether any Saturday business hours are to be included in the ‘8 hour rule’ time frame.