Too many corporate players want a rigged system — big business manipulating the courts or the regulatory system — to increase profits and crowd out competitors

Too many corporate players want a rigged system — big business manipulating the courts or the regulatory system — to increase profits and crowd out competitors.This corporatism, which uses the coercive power of government and the legal system to gain a competitive advantage, should never be misinterpreted as pro-consumer.
In Alcon Vision v. Lens.com, we saw first-hand how large multinational corporations use their resources to control competition and limit the sales of competitors in their markets.Alcon has pursued an anti-competitive strategy by driving contact lens discounters out of the market by implementing a Unilateral Pricing Policy (UPP), which mandates minimum retail prices for certain lenses.For non-economists, UPP is a price fix that artificially keeps the cost of a product high.

What’s more, “Alcon, the world’s largest eye care device company, has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the nation’s second-largest online contact lens discounter. Legal action is not being taken to defend Alcon’s property rights or protect its customers. No, Instead, the lawsuits are designed to undercut Alcon’s competition and force them into licensing agreements that actually hurt lens wearers. The alleged trademark issue is about the packaging, not the actual contacts. Alcon’s lawsuit for a small thing and their real goal is to get online discounters to buy 100% lenses from Alcon at artificially high prices so the lenses can no longer be sold at a discount. This will drive millions of consumers up Price.” Alcon intentionally redesigned its packaging to prevent discounters from selling lenses at lower wholesale prices.
Alcon wants to destroy the discount store market for contact lenses, or what Alcon calls the problematic gray market.That’s a problem for Alcon, only because so-called grey market prices are significantly lower than what Eye Care Practitioners (ECPs) charge.
Here’s a note for those of us who need contact lenses.Without discount sites like Lens.com or 1800Contacts.com, patients would be forced to buy lenses from ECP.If more patients are forced to buy their Alcon lenses from ECPs rather than discount retailers, then ECPs will be more likely to prescribe Alcon lenses, resulting in higher prices and sales for Alcon.
As we are still recovering from the coronavirus, patients/consumers need more options, not less.The pandemic has reshaped the economy in ways we won’t fully understand for years to come.What we do know now, however, is that big business is the economic winner in the post-pandemic era.
Last year, big companies like Alcon, Texas, posted solid profits and sales.In fact, Alcon — in a bad, bad, bad year — posted billions of dollars in sales in 2020, while many Americans experienced furloughs, layoffs, bankruptcies and shutdowns.Even in a year of lockdowns and delays in medical procedures, Alcon’s fourth-quarter global sales were $1.9 billion, up 2% from the fourth quarter of 2019.
With its economic outlook on the rise, Alcon, the global leader in the eye care industry, is still using a “law” — that is, weaponizing the legal system — to enforce anticompetitive behavior in the contact lens market.It uses the legal system to limit consumer choice, fix prices and drive out discounters.
Millions of Americans need contact lenses.According to RealClearHealth and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 45 million Americans wear contact lenses.These Americans wear contact lenses out of necessity, not indulgence.What’s more, with nearly 60% of the U.S. population requiring vision correction, Alcon’s suits will negatively impact hardworking Americans who need a break after a bad year, fewer options, higher prices .For most people who need vision correction, contact lenses are required every day.Contact lenses aren’t a luxury item, but Alcon’s lawsuit could keep countless consumers from buying the lenses they need to function, work, drive, and lead normal lives.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan once famously said, “Everyone has a right to their opinion, but not their own facts.” Here are the facts about Alcon’s anticompetitive behavior :
Alcon filed a lawsuit against a contact lens discounter that sold consumers at lower prices, alleging that its alleged trademark infringement was nonsense.In fact, Alcon’s lawsuit has nothing to do with FDA violations or concerns about intellectual property.Conversely, no one disputes that Alcon’s online rivals are selling legal, FDA-approved contact lenses.The truth, however, is that these online stores cost more than Alcon.That’s it.What Alcon really cares about is shutting down the competition.
For pa tients who need contact lenses, Alcon is looking to reduce competition from online discounters in order to lock in higher prices and increase sales.These higher prices don’t offer additional benefits in terms of quality or safety.This is a bad deal.