No. You can’t order contacts with an old prescription once it has expired, because federal law requires every seller to verify a valid, unexpired prescription before shipping lenses. The Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act puts that duty on the seller, and any prescriber contacted for verification has to flag an expired prescription when they see one.1Legal Information Institute. 15 U.S. Code 7601 – Availability of Contact Lens Prescriptions to Patients Prescriptions are generally valid for one to two years depending on your state, so if yours has lapsed, a new eye exam is the only route back to reordering.
How Long a Contact Lens Prescription Stays Valid
Federal law sets a floor of one year from the date you receive your prescription. If your state law provides a longer period, state law controls. Many states allow two years; others stay at the one-year federal minimum. A prescriber can set a shorter expiration when there’s a documented medical reason, such as a history of corneal problems or rapidly changing vision, but that reason has to be recorded in your file.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 7604 – Expiration of Contact Lens Prescriptions
The clock starts on the “issue date,” which is the day you actually receive a copy of the prescription, not the date of the exam itself.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 7604 – Expiration of Contact Lens Prescriptions For most people those are the same day. If your fitting required a follow-up, the expiration may land a little later than you’d expect. Dig out the paper copy or the record from your last order and check the printed dates before you assume you’re expired.
Why Sellers Can’t Just Fill an Expired Prescription
Before completing a sale, a seller must confirm the prescription is valid. That happens one of two ways: the seller receives a copy directly from you or your prescriber, or the seller contacts the prescriber’s office to verify the details.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 7603 – Prescriber Verification When a verification request goes out, the prescriber has eight business hours to respond. If they say nothing, the prescription is “passively verified” and the seller can fill the order.4eCFR. 16 CFR 315.5 – Prescriber Verification
That eight-hour window is where people sometimes assume an expired prescription might slip through. It usually doesn’t. Prescribers are specifically required to notify the seller if a prescription is expired, and most offices respond. When the prescriber responds within eight business hours and reports that the prescription is expired or otherwise invalid, the seller is prohibited from filling the order.5Federal Trade Commission. The Contact Lens Rule: A Guide for Prescribers and Sellers The prescriber also has to state the basis for the flag, and if the underlying details were simply wrong rather than expired, they must supply the corrected information.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 7603 – Prescriber Verification
“Business hours” here means 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, in the prescriber’s time zone, excluding federal holidays. Saturday counts only when the seller actually knows the office is open that day.6Federal Trade Commission. FAQs: Complying with the Contact Lens Rule
Why the Rule Exists
Eyes change. A prescription that fit correctly 18 months ago may now be wrong in ways that go beyond blurred vision. Shifts in corneal curvature or tear film quality can leave a lens sitting poorly on the eye, and a poor fit can cause corneal abrasions, restrict oxygen to the cornea, and lead to chronic dry eye.
The bigger concern is infection. Lenses that don’t fit well create micro-gaps where bacteria and fungi can grow. Keratitis, an infection of the cornea, is one of the more common complications and can progress to a corneal ulcer if left untreated. Severe cases can cause permanent damage. Brand-new lenses don’t fix any of this, because the fit is what protects the eye.
How to Renew Your Prescription
A new prescription requires a comprehensive eye exam paired with a contact lens fitting. The exam evaluates overall eye health, screens for conditions such as glaucoma, and measures visual acuity. The fitting portion goes further: the doctor measures corneal curvature and diameter, evaluates your tear film, and usually has you try trial lenses to check the fit in real time. Once the fitting is complete, you get the written prescription on the spot.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 7601 – Availability of Contact Lens Prescriptions to Patients
Without insurance, a standard comprehensive eye exam typically runs around $100 to $250, and the contact lens fitting often adds $75 to $200 on top. Specialty fittings for hard-to-fit eyes or multifocal lenses tend to cost more. Most vision insurance plans cover the exam, though the fitting is often billed separately with its own copay.
Online Eye Exams
Several companies offer online vision exams that produce a contact lens prescription. A board-certified ophthalmologist licensed in your state reviews the results and issues the prescription, which is valid for buying lenses anywhere. As of 2025, roughly a dozen states don’t permit online contact lens exams, including Delaware, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, New Jersey, and South Carolina, among others. If you live in one of those states, you’ll need an in-person visit. Online exams also aren’t appropriate for first-time contact lens wearers or patients with complex eye conditions, since they can’t replicate the hands-on fitting.
If Your Prescriber Won’t Hand Over the Prescription
After a contact lens fitting, the prescriber must give you a copy of your prescription immediately, whether or not you ask for it.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 7601 – Availability of Contact Lens Prescriptions to Patients They can’t condition release on buying lenses from them, charge a separate fee for the prescription itself, or make you sign a liability waiver to get it. They can require payment for the exam and fitting first, but only if they hold every patient to that same standard, including patients who turn out not to need corrective lenses. Showing proof of insurance counts as payment.5Federal Trade Commission. The Contact Lens Rule: A Guide for Prescribers and Sellers
The FTC enforces these rules. A seller who fills an order against an expired prescription, or a prescriber who refuses to release one to a patient, faces civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation, a figure the agency adjusts annually for inflation.8Federal Register. Adjustments to Civil Penalty Amounts If a prescriber is withholding your prescription or a seller is skipping verification, you can file a complaint directly with the FTC.