Bausch & Lomb Inc.’s longtime chief executive, hurt by questionable contact lens marketing practices that depleted profits and invited federal scrutiny, says he is retiring on Dec. 31.

Daniel E. Gill, 59, who joined the optics and health products maker 17 years ago and rose to CEO and chairman in 1981, insisted that he was not forced out. “I felt it my obligation to stay on and make sure that the company was put back on track and that the recovery was well on its way,” Gill said. Now, he added, “it is time to move on.”