A U.S. District Court judge has granted request from Vistakon’s parent company to temporarily block 1-800 Contacts from “misleading the public” about Acuvue and Acuvue 2 products.

Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc. filed the suit against 1-800 Contacts in October, accusing the contact lens retailer of distributing promotional materials that made false statements about Vistakon"s products. J&J also wants 1-800 Contacts to run advertising correcting the claims, and pay damages.

J&J claims 1-800 Contacts distributed a letter in August that contained false claims to encourage Acuvue wearers to switch to CIBA Vision’s Focus Dailies.

1-800 Contacts says J&J is preventing 1-800 Contacts from obtaining Vistakon products. To settle a federal antitrust suit earlier this year, Vistakon, agreed to sell its contact lenses to so-called alternative suppliers as long as they agreed to sell lenses only to consumers with valid prescriptions, comply with all federal and state contact lens laws, and not sell diagnostic lenses.

J&J says the letter 1-800 Contacts distributed to its customers also contained these “misleading” statements:

• That “there’s never been a contact lens this good—or a program like this to try them,” even though Focus Dailies have been available for more than three years.
• Cites a study by Christine Sindt, O.D., (Contact Lens Spectrum, May 2000) that claims that Focus Dailies are preferred five to one over Acuvue, even though the study was meant to compare wear modalities (two week vs. daily disposable). 1-800 Contacts also talks about improved comfort with Focus Dailies vs. Acuvue due to a thinner edge.
• Offers consumers incentives to try Focus Dailies, including a prepaid appointment with an eye doctor. J&J accuses 1-800 Contacts of offering practitioners financial incentives to switch patients from Acuvue to Focus Dailies.

J&J also accuses 1-800 Contacts of prominently picturing Vistakon’s products in television and print ads, and on its Web site, but failing to disclose to customers that its supply was limited.

In his order, Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger states that: “1-800 [Contacts] is enjoined from advertising to the public that it either is unable to supply customers with J&J lenses or that it is capable of filling virtually all orders for J&J lenses; 1-800 must choose which of these statements it will hold out to the public. Until that time, it is enjoined from making either statement.”

Judge Schlesinger also prohibits 1-800 Contacts from “misleading the public” about the findings of Dr. Sindt’s study and from comparing the edge thickness of Focus Dailies and Acuvue without identifying the differences in modalities.

1-800 Contacts executives have not responded to Review of Optometry’s requests for interviews. In its most recent quarterly Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the company says it “believes the complain lacks merit, and plans to vigorously defend the action.”