Disposable contact lens manufacturers will resolve claims of antitrust violations brought against them through a $75 million combined settlement. This will benefit consumers who bought certain disposable contact lenses between 1st June 2013 and 4th December 2018 sold by Alcon Vision, ABB Concise Optical Group, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, CooperVision, and Bausch & Lomb.
Settlement Website: ContactLensSettlement.com
Objection Deadline: 08/22/2022
Exclusion Deadline: 08/22/2022
Claim Form: https://www.contactlenssettlement.com/Home/SubmitClaim
Deadline For Submitting Claim Form: 08/22/2022
Final Hearing Date: To be decided
Settlement Amount: $75 million
Potential Claim Amount: To be decided
Proof Of Purchase: Class members might be required to offer additional information like receipts and other documentation to the Claims Administrator or Class Counsel in support of their claim as required.
Johnson & Johnson Vision Care and Alcon are two accredited vision companies manufacturing contact lenses. Various consumers purchased disposable contact lenses from the companies through their ophthalmologist’s pharmacy or office. However, an antitrust class action lawsuit has been filed against Johnson & Johnson and Alcon alleging that the manufacturers conspired with CooperVision, ABB, and Bausch & Lomb and breached federal laws. They raised the price of disposable contact lenses artificially by implementing unilateral pricing policies from June 2013 which set a minimum retail price for disposable contact lenses.
This scheme caused the consumers to pay more for their contact lenses than what they would have paid normally in healthy competition. The defendants would have priced their products lower without the alleged anti-competitive agreements to maintain competition and attract more customers. Johnson & Johnson Vision Care and Alcon have agreed to resolve claims against them with a $75 million class-action settlement out of which Alcon will contribute $20 and Johnson & Johnson will contribute the remaining $55 million. These funds will join previous settlements reached by ABB Optical Group and CooperVision.
According to the settlement terms, class members will be eligible to recover cash payments for the purchase of disposable contact lenses. The amount due to each consumer will be a proportional share of the five settlement funds depending on the number of eligible lenses purchased by them during the class period. Currently, no payment estimates are available. If consumers have already submitted claims for previous Bausch & Lomb, ABB, and/or CooperVision settlements, then they will not be required to submit another claim. Their previously submitted information will be adequate for disbursing the payments.
