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Update:
- Alcon and Johnson & Johnson have received initial approval for settlements made to resolve claims the companies engaged in price-fixing for disposable contact lenses.
- Alcon has agreed to pay $20 million while Johnson & Johnson will pay $55 million to end the claims.
- The settlement agreements were first announced in March, only days before the companies were set to go to trial in multidistrict litigation.
- Bausch & Lomb and ABB Optical Group previously agreed to settlements worth $10 million and $30.2 million, respectively, to end the claims.
(Sept. 20, 2019)
Bausch & Lomb (B&L) will pay $10 million to consumers who allege that the contact lens company conspired with others to raise prices of soft, disposable lenses.
The company filed the proposed settlement agreement with the court stating that they deny violating any laws and maintain that its conduct was proper.
“B&L has denied and continues to deny specifically each and all of the claims and contentions of wrongful conduct alleged in the Action, along with all charges of wrongdoing or liability against it arising out of any of the conduct alleged, or that could have been alleged in the Action,” the B&L settlement agreement states.
The consumers argue that B&L, along with Alcon, Johnson & Johnson, and CooperVision conspired with each other to stop the discounting of disposable contact lenses which would ensure that the retailers would charge a minimum price for the lenses.
The plaintiffs also allege that the companies threatened retailers who sold the contact lenses below a mandated price. If the retailers did not abide by these terms, the companies would impose a restriction on their supply to them.
In addition, the contact lens class action claims that the companies created a “Unilateral Pricing Policy” (UPP), which was used to fix the prices of the contact lenses.
According to the B&L proposed settlement agreement, “In February 2014, B&L adopted a ‘Unilateral Pricing Policy’ or ‘UPP’ on B&L’s Ultra product. Thereafter, B&L adopted a UPP on its BioTrue ONEday for Presbyopia and Ultra for Presbyopia contact lenses (collectively, including Ultra and private label versions of all such lenses, the ‘Relevant B&L lenses’).”
The company claims that the UPPs in relation to the B&L lenses have been stopped and are no longer in effect.
In February 2018, CooperVision settled with the plaintiffs for $3 million. The company declared in the settlement agreement that they were “forced” to endure the pricing policies, as no agreement had been negotiated between each of the companies.
By December 2018, the plaintiffs were successful in getting the class action certified by U.S. District Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger, who opined that the case is a clear example of one where the proposed Class Members would not have incentive to pursue individual actions against the companies.
According to the proposed settlement agreement, B&L will put the $10 million into an escrow account within 14 days of preliminary approval and the plaintiffs will have the right to terminate the settlement agreement if this doesn’t happen.
According to the B&L proposed settlement agreement, the settlement Class is defined as “all persons and entities residing in the United States who made retail purchases of disposable contact lenses manufactured by Alcon Laboratories, Inc., Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., or B&L during the Settlement Class Period for their own use and not for resale, where the prices for such contact lenses were subject to a Unilateral Pricing Policy and the purchase occurred during the period when the Unilateral Pricing Policy was in effect.”
Did you purchase disposable contact lenses from one of these companies? Leave a message in the comments section below.
Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.
The consumers are represented by Michael E. Lockamy and John A. DeVault III of Bedell Dittmar Devault Pillans & Coxe PA; Robert C. Gilbert of Kopelowitz Ostrow Ferguson Weiselberg Gilbert, Hollis Salzman; Bernard Persky and Benjamin Steinberg of Robins Kaplan LLP; Michael D. Hausfeld, James J. Pizzirusso, Nathaniel C. Giddings, Michael P. Lehmann and Bonny E. Sweeney of Hausfeld LLP; Christopher M. Burke and Joseph P. Guglielmo of Scott & Scott Attorneys at Law LLP; George W. Sampson of Sampson Dunlap LLP; Steven C. Marks of Podhurst Orseck LLP; and Dennis Stewart of Hulett Harper Stewart LLP.
The Bausch & Lomb Antitrust Contact Lens Class Action is In re: Disposable Contact Lens Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 3:15-md-02626, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
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674 thoughts onContact Lens Price-Fixing Class Action Settlements Given Initial OK For Combined $75M
Add me to the list. Been wearing them for years
Please add me
Add Me,I used contacts for years
Add me ive wore contact for over 10 years.
I purchased coopervision contact lenses
add me
Please add me I have been wearing contacts for years
I have been using disposable contact lenses for over 25 years! How do I add myself to this claim?
Been using B&L disposables for years. Please add me as well.
Thank you.
Add me