By Charley Gillespie
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS - High school sophomore Robyn Rouse's eyes hurt soon after she wore a pair of green contact lenses purchased at a grocery store to match her tennis shoes.

She removed the lenses that night and awoke the next morning in pain, one eye swollen shut and oozing.

The non-prescription lenses caused an infection a year ago that required a year of treatment and a cornea transplant to save her eye. Her vision is not completely restored.

"It's a cheap way to really change the way you look," said Robyn, 15, of Cleveland, who paid $25 for her lenses. "I see girls with them on all the time. They are easy to get. They sell them at gas stations, corner stores and out of people's homes."

The decorative lenses, which come in various colors and designs, are increasingly being sold by retailers and on the Internet without prescription, bringing crackdowns nationwide, said Ed Schilling, executive director of the Landover, Md.-based Contact Lens Institute.

The lenses are considered medical devices and require a prescription because of the potential health risks of an improper fit, including blindness, said Dr. James Saviola of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA recently told consumers not to wear the lenses unless they are prescribed and said it would seize unapproved lenses sold in convenience stores, flea markets and elsewhere.

Ohio, Illinois, Texas, South Carolina and Florida in the past two years ordered stores to stop over-the-counter sales of the lenses.

Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery recently obtained orders against four retailers ordering them to cease lens sales.

"No one is kidding themselves thinking there were only four stores in the state selling colored contact lenses without a prescription," said Montgomery spokeswoman Stephanie Beougher. "What we are hoping is through the increased public awareness other retailers will voluntarily take them off the shelf."

Duluth, Ga.-based CIBA Vision, which produces Wild Eyes contacts in designs that include alien and zebra stripes, recently sent 53 letters to businesses demanding they stop selling its lenses.

"We only sell to licensed eye doctors and optometrists and businesses licensed to sell them," said spokeswoman Amanda Cancel, who added the lenses may have been resold.

Mr. Schilling said six pairs of lenses can by purchased by a retailer for $30, who in turn can sell them for $20 a pair.

CIBA also has filed lawsuits against C&C Trading Co. and MAS Wholesale & Retail in U.S. District Court in Atlanta alleging the lenses were being sold to unlicensed vendors.

MAS owner Michelle Singh said her company stopped selling the lenses in September after the lawsuit was filed.

"We thought it was OK to sell these lenses because you can purchase the same lenses over the Internet without a prescription," Ms. Singh said. "We were in shock. We didn't think it was illegal."

Rochester, N.Y.-based CooperVision, which markets a Crazy Lens line with patterns including NFL logos, a red spiral and cat eyes, also has cracked down on retailers.

"Our new policy is that if you are caught redistributing our merchandise, you must return our product to us and we won't do business with you anymore," said marketing manager Doug Brayer.

South Carolina sent letters this year to middle and high schools warning students about the risks of cosmetic contacts. Texas sent similar letters to its schools. "We are getting calls daily from parents, school nurses and consumers," said Kate Cox, administrator of the South Carolina Opticianry Board. Ms. Cox said the problems reported included allergic reactions, bacterial infections, corneal abrasions and ulcers.

"For the past two years we have been really going after these stores," said Tony Sanders, spokesman for Illinois Department of Professional Regulation. "With Halloween coming up, kids will want these lenses to go with their costumes ... and kids will find a way to get them."