(a) Contact lenses may be sold only upon receipt of a written prescription or a copy of a written prescription and may be sold in quantities consistent with the prescription’s established expiration date and the standard packaging of the manufacturer or vendor. If the written prescription or a copy of it is not available to the seller, the seller shall confirm the prescription by direct communication with the prescriber or his or her authorized agent prior to selling, shipping, mailing, or delivering any lens, and maintain a record of the communication. A prescription shall be deemed confirmed upon the occurrence of one of the following:
(1) The prescriber or the prescriber’s agent confirms the prescription by communication with the seller.
(2) The prescriber fails to communicate with the seller by 2 p.m. of the next business day after the seller requests confirmation, or the prescriber fails to communicate with the seller by the next business day on or before the same time of day that the seller requested confirmation, whichever is sooner. For purposes of this paragraph, “business day” means each day except a Sunday or a federal holiday.
(b) If a prescriber communicates with a seller before the time period described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) elapses and informs the seller that the contact lens prescription is invalid, the seller shall not fill the prescription. The prescriber shall specify in the communication with the seller the basis for invalidating the prescription.
(c) A seller shall not alter any of the specifications of a contact lens prescription other than the color or substitute a different manufacturer, brand, or other physical property of the lens. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision, if the contact lens is manufactured by a company, but sold under multiple private labels by that same company to individual providers, the seller may fill the prescription with a contact lens manufactured by that company if the contact lens prescription and the related parameters are not substituted, changed, or altered for a different manufacturer or brand.
(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 814, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 2003.)