Bausch & Lomb to Settle Lens Probes

Bausch & Lomb Inc. said it will pay $1.7 million to settle investigations of labeling practices begun nearly three years ago by 17 states. The states’ attorneys general had alleged that the Rochester, N.Y.-based eye-wear company had misled consumers by labeling the same contact lenses under several names. Although Bausch & Lomb did not admit wrongdoing, it agreed to pay each state $100,000 to settle the suits. Bausch & Lomb said its Optima FW, Medalist and SeeQuence2 were all the same lens, but that they were labeled differently to correspond to different replacement schedules prescribed by doctors. It reportedly discontinued the practice in 1995. The states involved in the settlement are Arkansas, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Wisconsin. Shares of Bausch & Lomb rose $1.13 to close at $43.19 on the NYSE.