Hubble Contact Lens Subscription Service May Pose Serious Eye Risks: Report

Optometrists and other eye experts are warning consumers there may be hidden dangers in taking the cheap deals on contact lenses being offered by Hubble.

In a New York Times report published this week, optometrists and ophthalmologists warn that Hubble makes cheap contact lenses from outdated materials, switches consumers away from brands that may have been prescribed for a specific reason and does not properly ensure that prescriptions are correct. This could result in eye infections, vision loss and other vision problems, they warn.

Hubble is a contact lens prescription service, promoted mostly through social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. It promises daily lenses for $39 a month. The company started in 2016, and has been highly successful, threatening to topple other mainstream contact lens manufacturers.

However, eye healthcare professionals told the New York Times that they have seen an increasing number of customers with contact lens complications, such as corneal ulcers, which they say are prevalent among Hubble customers.

One optometrist told the Times that more than half of her patients who got lenses from Hubble have experienced complications.

Hubble takes advantage of a Federal Trade Commission rule known as “passive verification”, according to critics. If a seller is unsuccessful in contacting an eye doctor to verify a prescription within eight business hours, they can go ahead a fulfill that prescription without a verification.

Critics say Hubble used this rule to move patients from their prescription brands to its own. However, the company has denied it uses this tactic. The company noted that the FTC does not require customers to list the brand of contact lenses they use on their prescription.

The American Optometric Association (AOA) warned consumers about its concerns over Hubble Contacts in 2017, and lawyers for the company reportedly threatened the association with a lawsuit, but it refused to retract its report.

In April 2017, the AOA sent letters (PDF) to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Justice Department, all calling for investigations into Hubble Contact’s prescription verifications.

After an article in Quartz, a business news website in December 2017 claimed Hubble sold lenses using fake prescriptions from a made-up doctor, the AOA said its fears had been validated.

In May, the FTC announced a proposed rule which calls for prescribers to obtain a signed acknowledgment after releasing a contact lens prescription, and maintaining that acknowledgment in their records for at least three years. Public comment on the proposed rule is being accepted until July 29.