SACRAMENTO (KGTV) – The California Board of Optometry is warning California residents not to purchase costume contact lenses without a prescription.
The board says lenses purchased without a prescription can cause eye damage such as eye infection, scratched cornea, impaired vision or even worse–loss of eyesight.
The costume lenses are popular during the month of October and can usually be found at flea markets, novelty shops, barber shops, beauty salons, Halloween costume stores, mall kiosks and even gas stations.
Consumers who have purchased the costume contact lenses are asked to contact the California State Board of Optometry at optometry@dca.ca.gov.
In 2015, a teen in Michigan was left partially blind after wearing the costume lenses for a few hours.
"My vision is still not going to be 100 percent ever again, it's just going to be a long time before I am not in any pain," said 17-year-old Leah Carpenter.
It's illegal to sell contact lenses to someone without a prescription.
