Contact users can get $100 credits

Manufacturer settles lawsuit brought by 32 states in 1996

Purchasers of replacement contact lenses manufactured by Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc. during the past 13 years are eligible for credits of up to $100 toward their next purchase and an eye examination under a settlement of an antitrust lawsuit, Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. has announced.

The suit was brought by Maryland and 31 other states in 1996. It alleged that Johnson & Johnson and two other defendants, Bausch & Lomb and the American Optometric Association, kept prices high by selling the lenses only through health care professionals. Bausch & Lomb settled earlier.

Under the settlement, anyone who has bought replacement disposable contact lenses since January 1988 under the brand names Accuvue or Surevue can get $50 toward the purchase of four or more multipacks of disposable lenses, $25 off a second purchase and $25 off the cost of an eye exam.

Johnson & Johnson agreed to distribute at least $30 million worth of benefits.

Information: 888-707-5880 or 888-437-1294, or check the Web at www.freecontactlensrebates.com or www.acuvue.com.