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From: blewis@oddity.vampyre.org (Benjamin Lewis)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Contact-lenses (was RE: Looking thru Gary Gilmore's Thighs)
Date: 14 Nov 1994 02:05:24 GMT

I didn't see the beginning of this thread, but I did see that it had evolved into a discussion of contact-lens pricing. Since I'd actually read something about this recently, I decided to delurk:

According to the August 1994 issue of _Consumer Reports_, page 490, "Baush & Lomb markets essentially the same soft contact lenses under different brand names, at different prices, and with different recommended wearing times."

The article continues:

        These lenses are all the same:
        o Optima F. W. soft lenses, which are meant to be worn for a 
          year or more.  They cost about $46 a pair wholesale.
        o Medalist lenses, meant for two to three months of wear.  They
          cost $8 a pair wholesale (in boxes of six lenses).
        o SeeQuence 2 lenses, to be worn for a week or two and then
          tossed out.  They cost $5 a pair wholesale (in boxes of six).

              .
              .
         [stuff omitted]
              .
              .

          The multiplicity of lenses can befuddle eye-care professionals
        as well as contact-lens wearers.  For instance, when California
        optometrist Robert Pazen noticed that Bausch & Lomb uses a 
        single pair of trial lenses to fit patients for both SeeQuence 2
        and Medalist, he became curious and consulted a company sales
        representative, who confirmed that the lenses were identical.
        But when Pazen asked whether he could buy only the SeeQuence 2
        and prescribe them for wearing as long as he saw fit, the 
        representative said no.

So, at least one company sells the same lenses at different prices for different purposes.

Source: "Contact-lens prices change in the blink of an eye," _Consumer_

_Reports_, August 1994, pg. 490.