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The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether Valeant Pharmaceuticals illegally cornered the market for a key component of rigid contact lenses, according to ProPublica. The drug maker disclosed recently that it received a letter from the FTC about an investigation into the purchase of a company that makes lenses, but did not provide further details (see page 32) .

The probe is the latest in a string of investigations into Valeant business practices. Presidential aspirant and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders began investigating the company over its drug pricing. And federal prosecutors in New York and Massachusetts opened their own probe into patient assistance programs and information given to the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The FTC is looking at whether the purchase of Paragon Vision Sciences had given Valeant monopoly control over the market for rigid contact lenses, according to the ProPublica story. Valeant, which has grown rapidly by buying other companies, purchased Paragon last May and acquired Bausch & Lomb in 2013.

We asked the FTC for comment. As for Valeant, the company noted in its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it is cooperating with the investigation.

Paragon and Bausch & Lomb were rivals in the market for materials for lenses for people who cannot wear soft lenses, the news site writes. Since buying Paragon, Valeant doubled the cost of some materials, eliminated volume discounts, approached others labs about buying them out, and sent letters telling others it would cut off some of their supplies at the end of the year, several manufacturers told the news site.

“We’ve seen this pattern with Valeant in other things that they’ve done,” Jan Svochak, president of the Contact Lens Manufacturers Association, an industry trade group, who runs a lab that makes contact lenses in Texas, told ProPublica.

He expressed concern that Valeant will use its monopoly powers over the industry to force labs out of business. “Then, the pricing will go up significantly,’’ he told ProPublica, adding that he discussed his concerns with the FTC. “They’re trying to put us out of business. Why? So they can own the market.” He estimates rigid lenses sales total about $100 million a year, or about 10 percent of the US market, which numbers between 3 and 4 million people.

Some small companies still produce components for rigid contact lenses. But Valeant is now the only supplier for materials needed to make a type of contact lens worn that reshapes the cornea overnight, so people don’t have to wear glasses or lenses during the day, ProPublica writes.

Optometrists and lens manufacturers told the news site that they expect consumers will pay more for lenses. But it’s not certain how much costs may rise, because Valeant only began raising prices over the last few weeks.