Joy Henry said she didn’t know what to do.
Her 15-year-old daughter, Kayla, was screaming in agony. She told Fox Carolina:
“When you hear your daughter scream like that, and in so much pain, it’s just devastating.”
Worse, her daughter couldn’t see. All because of her contact lenses.
It’s no secret that a prescription is needed for contact lenses. Even non-prescription colored lenses should always be obtained through a doctor.
What Kayla didn’t know, however, was that no one had any business selling the lenses at the Greenville, South Carolina, convenience store where she got them.
As Fox Carolina reports, Kayla picked up the colored lenses at the convenience store and within days was hospitalized with serious eye problems, including a scratched cornea and chemical burns.
Even though she had taken them out at the end of each day, her eyes were still affected.
Moreover, Kayla should never have been able to buy them in the first place, as selling lenses without a prescription is illegal.
As the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — which regulates contact lenses along with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) explains — a person must have a copy of a valid prescription when purchasing contacts online, in stores, or by phone or mail.
If a consumer fails to have their prescription handy when they are sold contact lenses, the seller has technically treated a prescription device as though it were available over the counter. In legal terms, explains the FDA, it’s a misbranding of the product.
