CONTACT LENS MAKER SETTLES PRICING LAWSUIT.

Byline: Jackie Hallifax Associated Press 

At least 20 million people who buy disposable contact lenses will be eligible for a $35 rebate under a nationwide settlement announced Monday between CIBA Vision Corp. and 26 states.

The agreement, which must be approved by a federal judge in Jacksonville, settles civil complaints that CIBA Vision unlawfully limited the sale of its contact lenses through discount outlets, driving up prices.

Florida filed a federal lawsuit in 1994 against CIBA Vision and the nation's other top lens makers, Johnson & Johnson and Bausch & Lomb Inc. Suits against those two companies, as well as several optometrists and professional associations, are still pending.

People nationwide are eligible for the rebate because a national class-action suit was later added to the Florida case and 25 other states filed a similar lawsuit in New York last December.

Consumers paid an additional $1 to $3 for a pack of six lenses, according to Scott Palmer, a Florida assistant attorney general.

In the last decade, at least 20 million people around the nation paid an estimated $135 million more for contact lenses from the three manufacturers, according to Tom Dove, deputy attorney general in California.

Under the settlement, consumers can get cash rebates of $35 and coupons worth an additional $8.

Former customers who buy four multipacks of CIBA Vision, Vistakon or Bausch & Lomb lenses will be eligible for a rebate.

A multipack typically provides six lenses and sells for anywhere from $60 to $200.

``This agreement compensates consumers for CIBA's past marketing practices while ensuring that consumers will have more choices when buying lenses in the future,'' Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth said.

CIBA Vision, which did not admit to wrongdoing, also has agreed to pay $5 million to cover attorney fees.