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Wearing Decorative Contacts For Halloween? Experts Warn You Could Go Blind

WASHINGTON (CBS) – When planning this year's Halloween costume, be careful about what you're putting in your eyes.

Doctors and the FDA are concerned about the health dangers of decorative contact lenses. They say the lenses can cause a variety of injuries including cornea scratches, infection and blindness in the worst cases.

halloween-contact-lens
Photo by Sebastian Willnow/AFP/Getty Images

In some states, selling the lenses over the counter is illegal, but they can easily be purchased on the Internet.

The FDA says it's important to only buy decorative contacts if you have a prescription.

Read The Full Warning From The FDA

"Right now there are a lot of products that you can buy without a prescription but they may not be safe or legal," the FDA says. "Never buy contact lenses from a street vendor, a beauty supply store, flea market, novelty store or Halloween store."

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