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There's a dangerous business practice going on right here in the valley. It involves the sale of contact lenses that could be hazardous to your health. Contact 13's Tricia Kean exposes the illegal selling of contact lenses in a hidden camera investigation.

It's a rainbow of color contacts just pick your favorite and for $15 they're yours. Armed with a hidden camera our Contact 13 producers went out to see how easy it is to buy cosmetic contacts without a prescription. "Some people, they buy five different colors" says the Booth Operator.

But it turns out selling decorative contacts without proper licensing is illegal. It's against state law and the Food and Drug Administration regulates contact lenses as prescription devices. That means they can't be sold over-the-counter.

But that's exactly what Contact 13 found for sale inside The Q Mall swap meet on Tropicana near the 95. Booths inside that sell contacts have a basic business license. But not a dispensing license for contacts and certainly no doctors on staff. Our Contact 13 producers were able to easily buy a pair of lenses without a prescription. Producer says "Great, yeah we'll just get the lenses then. These are great." Booth Operator says "I put them in plastic bag."

After our $15 purchase, we walked over to another booth where this man talked to us about his selection of lenses. Booth Operator says "I don't carry the cheap stuff because it's no good." He mentioned how some customers have issues with certain contacts. Booth Operator says "People do too much complaining." Producer says "Too many complaints?" Booth Operator says "Yes." Producer says "What were people complaining about?" Booth Operator says "Well, because they hurt eyes."
       
Although we didn't buy anything at this booth we were still curious about how dangerous contacts really are without a prescription. Dr. Rouweyha says "it's a high risk behavior that should be avoided." Doctor Rajy Rouweyha sees the consequences on a regular basis. As an opthamologist he deals with some of the worst cases of eye infections and injuries resulting from non-prescription contacts. Dr. Rouweyha says "A few actually several, who've had such devastating cornea scaring result that we've had to go on and do a cornea transplant, or cornea replacement surgery."

Studies show contacts can cause issues as minor as eye pain, to bacterial infections and in extreme cases you can go blind. The problem is most people think these cosmetic lenses are safe because there's no prescription and they're FDA approved. But that doesn't mean just anyone can sell them. Dr. Rouweyha says "Like you and I just can't take a heart medication that's FDA approved and sell it... the person who sells them needs to have a dispensing license and they also need a valid prescription."

Nevada's state Board of Dispensing Opticians says any unlicensed business not willing to stop the sale of decorative contacts could face a fine of up to $10,000. So after finding where these lenses are sold Contact 13 went back with our cameras rolling. Remember this man from our first stop?

Tricia Kean says "Do you know those are illegal to sell?" Booth Operator says "Oh I don't know about that. Ya. Since they've been coming here. Everybody here sell that's why." Tricia says "They sell them? Do you have a license to sell them?" Booth Operator says "No. Everywhere got to sell that." Tricia says "Well you could face a lot of fines for that. Did you know that?" Booth Operator says "I don't know."
 
The booth operator, who told us his name is Song, asked us not to show his face and then went on to say he was getting rid of his lenses. Song says "I'm going to shutdown everything. I'm in retirement. I don't want to, you know, make trouble."

While our cameras were still rolling, Song started taking down his advertising for the contacts. We also wanted to return to the booth where we bought decorative contacts but we didn't get too far before security showed up and we were asked to leave. We did contact the owner of the Q Mall who tells Contact 13 he plans to follow up with the businesses and make sure they're not selling the lenses.

So here's the Contact 13 bottom line: Anyone selling decorative contacts must have a dispensing license. They also need a valid prescription from the consumer. If you're looking to get any type of cosmetic lenses then visit an eye-care specialist who is trained at properly fitting you for contacts. And if you know of a businesses selling them without a license make sure to report them to the state Board of Dispensing Opticians at 775-853-1421.