Optical retailers charge $50-$150 for blue light coatings that a Cochrane systematic review of 17 trials found have no proven benefit

US optical retailers routinely upsell blue-light-filtering lens coatings at $50-$150 per pair, generating 75-85% gross margins on these add-ons, despite a 2023 Cochrane Database systematic review of 17 randomized controlled trials finding no evidence that blue light filtering reduces eye strain, improves sleep quality, or protects against macular degeneration. Why it matters: consumers trust their optometrist's recommendation and pay $50-$150 extra per pair for a coating that provides no proven clinical benefit, so with 164 million corrective lens wearers in the US purchasing glasses every 1-3 years, the aggregate consumer overspend on blue light coatings reaches hundreds of millions annually, so this erodes trust in legitimate optical recommendations when consumers eventually learn the evidence does not support the claims, so patients may become skeptical of genuinely beneficial coatings like anti-reflective treatment, so the broader optical industry's credibility as healthcare providers is undermined. The structural root cause is that the FDA does not regulate eyewear lens coatings or their marketing claims (unlike drugs or medical devices), allowing manufacturers and retailers to make vague wellness claims without clinical substantiation, and optometrists face no professional sanction for recommending unproven add-ons because blue light coatings are classified as consumer products rather than medical interventions.