The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

Post by tyingq » Tue, Oct 19, 2021, 7:08 PM UTC

xmprt wrote: post #71

JCM9 wrote: post #55

There are a number of healthcare areas in the US that have been protected by regulation, but it’s increasingly unclear if this is good for patients, consumers, or public health at large. The increasing sentiment seems to be probably not. Vision care is another area I’d expect to see more changes and disruption coming down the pipeline. Vision care is very important and advanced cases require special skills, but it’s…

One pretty big (and relatively unknown) law is that your doctor needs to give you your vision prescription so you can buy glasses elsewhere (usually for much cheaper). I think a lot of them get around this by letting you look for glasses while waiting and not telling you that this law exists.

Post by nostromo » Tue, Oct 19, 2021, 7:08 PM UTC

bckygldstn wrote: post #47

kristofferR wrote: post #7

Contact lenses next? It's amazingly stupid that I, as a tourist, who knows exactly what types of contacts I need, may need to get a US prescription for contacts.

For the commenters asking: this applies to contact lenses, not eye glasses. From the Contact Lens Rule [1]: "a contact lens seller cannot provide contact lenses to its customer unless the seller either obtains a copy of the prescription or verifies the prescription information with the prescriber" The Eyeglass Rule [2] doesn't contain this stipulation. https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-... h…

Post by JCM9 » Tue, Oct 19, 2021, 7:10 PM UTC

tristor wrote: post #84

xmprt wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One pretty big (and relatively unknown) law is that your doctor needs to give you your vision prescription so you can buy glasses elsewhere (usually for much cheaper). I think a lot of them get around this by letting you look for glasses while waiting and not telling you that this law exists.

The bigger issue is that a prescription alone is not enough to order new glasses, you also need pupillary distance measurements in order to ensure the lenses are ground correctly. Many many optometrists will not provide these, only the legally obligated prescription. While for most people who have minimum prescriptions you can use a phone app or similar to get a rough PD, for anyone with serious prescriptions even mi…

Post by mbg721 » Tue, Oct 19, 2021, 7:11 PM UTC

dsizzle wrote: post #79

JCM9 wrote: post #55

There are a number of healthcare areas in the US that have been protected by regulation, but it’s increasingly unclear if this is good for patients, consumers, or public health at large. The increasing sentiment seems to be probably not. Vision care is another area I’d expect to see more changes and disruption coming down the pipeline. Vision care is very important and advanced cases require special skills, but it’s…

Not sure why vision checks require a doctor at all. In the end, they're just relying on your responses anyway: "What's better: A or B"? In fact, I'd go further and say it doesn't even require another person. I, for one, am glad to see this bill.

Post by bckygldstn » Tue, Oct 19, 2021, 7:15 PM UTC

nostromo wrote: post #83

bckygldstn wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the commenters asking: this applies to contact lenses, not eye glasses. From the Contact Lens Rule [1]: "a contact lens seller cannot provide contact lenses to its customer unless the seller either obtains a copy of the prescription or verifies the prescription information with the prescriber" The Eyeglass Rule [2] doesn't contain this stipulation. https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-... h…

Many states have that rule though. In California, for example, you can't buy prescription glasses without an active prescription. I found this out when my glasses broke on the weekend and couldn't get replacements before talking to a doctor -- none of which had availability for several days. So I suffered from headaches and poor vision for several days thanks to this ridiculous regulation.