J&J’s $55 Million Contact Lens Settlement Gets Initial Court Nod

A Johnson & Johnson unit and Alcon Vision LLC stepped closer to ending antitrust litigation over an alleged price-fixing scheme by top contact lens makers and their primary distributor, when a federal judge in Jacksonville, Fla., granted preliminary approval to settlements worth $75 million.

Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger signed off tentatively Monday on agreements calling for payments of $55 million by Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc. and $20 million by Alcon, the last two companies facing class action antitrust claims in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Schlesinger said the settlement filings “raised no obvious ...