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This article will soon be published in The St. Petersburg Times in response to recent articles written in favor of online optical retailing. The author felt compelled to reach out to the public via his local newspaper to educate them about the pitfalls on online dispensing.
With very few caveats mentioned in them, I have read several articles over the last few years touting the benefits of purchasing eyeglasses online, the most recent being “Buy glasses with a click” which appeared in The St. Petersburg Times on June 9, 2011. In the interest of balance, here’s a view with many caveats and only one benefit. If you or a loved one wears prescription eyeglasses I strongly encourage you to read on.
Let’s start with the law. According to Florida Statute 484.001, “the Legislature finds that the practice of opticianry by unskilled and incompetent practitioners presents a danger to the public health and safety [and] that it is difficult for the public to make an informed choice about opticians and that the consequences of a wrong choice could seriously endanger their health and safety…the sole purpose of enacting this [law] is for the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare.”
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A few paragraphs later, ostensibly in order to further protect our citizenry, FS 484.002 states that eyeglasses should not be transferred or dispensed to the wearer, “…until the optician has completed the fitting of the optical device upon the customer.” This directive is contained in the statute’s very definition of “opticianry.” In the section on violations and penalties (484.013), “to prepare or dispense lenses, spectacles, eyeglasses, contact lenses, or other devices when such a person is not licensed as an optician in this state” is deemed unlawful. In Florida Administrative Code 64B12, which sets out specific disciplinary actions for people and organizations in violation of these rules, the penalty is up to a $10,000 fine and loss of licensure, that is, the person’s livelihood.
So the state of Florida, in all its infinite wisdom places all these restrictions (and more) on how its people purchase prescription eyewear. Meanwhile, anyone with a computer, Internet access, a credit card, and half a brain can circumvent all those laws and rules, and without consulting a professional licensed by the Department of Health, place an order for prescription eyeglasses at a myriad of websites. Due to the fact that most of these entities are headquartered out of the state or country, and that most of the glasses are made overseas, they are governed by the laws of Interstate Commerce only and fall between the cracks of the state’s authority. In plain English you can purchase your eyeglasses online, and from a legal standpoint probably nothing bad is going to happen to you. Which begs the question: Just because you can do something should you? I think we’d all agree that the answer to that question often times is a resounding “no.”
There are many interesting things for sale on the Internet. During a recent surfing session I discovered dozens of sites selling in-home, do-it-yourself Pap smears. I don’t know about you, but I would prefer my wife and daughter consult a licensed gynecologist when it comes to administering and interpreting a procedure designed to detect cervical cancer. Likewise, I saw an impressive site that was selling a do-it-yourself spine manipulation and Chiropractic booklet and DVD for $99. If I were suffering from chronic or intense back pain to the point I would consider that, I think a trip to my local, licensed chiropractor would be in order.
But seriously, let’s consider the wisdom of purchasing prescription eyeglasses online. In case you haven’t figured it out, I think it is a terribly bad idea. Before I lay out my reasons why, let me make two things perfectly clear. First, I DO have a horse in this race. In the interest of full disclosure, I have been a Florida-licensed optician for more than 25 years. I have a private practice in Pasco County (Max Optics), and my wife is also a Florida-licensed optician. In addition, I have been a lecturer and provider of continuing education for eye care professionals in this and many other states.
Second, if your ONLY concern is economic – purchasing cheaper eyeglasses regardless of the risks involved – read no further, you will probably not be convinced. Just promise me one thing: If and when something bad happens to you physically (God forbid, you damage or lose your eyesight) good luck finding someone to hold responsible other than yourself. It would be awfully difficult to sue some nameless, faceless somebody operating somewhere deep within Thailand, for example. Second, if and when the glasses you receive get loose, need repair, adjustment, break, or if you’re not seeing as well as you hoped you would, do not consult a flesh and blood optician to assist you. Instead, wrap the glasses up with a note, and send them back to where you purchased them for assistance or repair. That seems like a fair enough request. After all, if you bring them to your local optician say for a screw, and while replacing it, the screwdriver accidentally slips and seriously scratches your lens – who is responsible? So here are a few reasons why I think you should think twice about Internet eyeglass purchases:
Impact Resistance - Safety. In the United States there are strict OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standards when it comes to spectacle lenses. Minimum thickness guidelines to ensure maximum impact resistance are strictly adhered to. Many optical retailers and labs have applied even stricter standards (especially for kids), again, to ensure maximum protection. That’s not necessarily so in other countries. Last year I had a man in my shop who wished to purchase one lens to replace one that had shattered when he dropped his glasses on a linoleum floor. Upon inspection I noticed that the other, unbroken lens was incredibly thin – to the point that I could flex it so that the edges almost touched one another. Thank goodness the lens had broken when dropped, and not while he was wearing them in front of his eyes. If an object such as a small pebble had hit the lens while he was wearing them, I guarantee they would have shattered into many small pieces, some of which would have almost certainly damaged his cornea. He had purchased them online.
Comfort and Fit. Despite the technological allure of virtually “trying on” frames via a picture on your computer screen, without ever actually trying them on, you can never be sure of a comfortable fit. Although they might look attractive on screen, often when they finally arrive the frames are too loose or too tight. The temples (sidepieces) are too short or way too long. Perhaps they’re too heavy - they slide down your nose. Those are just some of the chances you take. At that point, you have a few options: live with it, send them back, or try to adjust them yourself. Again, no self-respecting optician would want to do it for you. Why? First, it’s not fair to the “paying” customers who are also waiting for his or her service. Additionally, an initial consultation and initial personalized fitting, along with any necessary repairs and adjustments are part of the purchase price. Therefore, send them back to where you purchased them.
Comfort is not the only consideration when thinking about “fit.” When you order glasses from a qualified professional, part of the initial consultation is determining your pupillary distance or PD (the distance between your pupils in millimeters) and if you wear bifocals a multi-focal height or MFH (the distance from the deepest geometric point on the frame to your lower lid or middle of your pupil). If the PD is “off” just a few millimeters, it will result in unwanted, un-prescribed horizontal prism. This problem could manifest itself in varying degrees of double vision, stress and strain, and general discomfort. The amount of prism and discomfort is compounded with regard to the overall strength of your prescription and just how far off the measurement is. I have personally seen PDs of glasses purchased online off by as much as 10 mm. To give you an idea of how far off that is, it’s like you ordered pants with a waist measurement of 32, and received pants with a waist size of 37. Good luck with that fit.
Inexplicably, most online eyeglass sellers don’t even ask for the MFH measurement. Apparently they guess, or figure that one-measurement fits all. Trust me, it doesn’t. I sold more than a dozen pairs of bifocals yesterday, and every MFH was different! As far as the PD is concerned, some of these sites give you instructions on how to do it yourself, or advice on how to weasel the information out of a local eye care professional. By the way, neither the PD nor the MFH are considered part of your eyeglass prescription. They are considered ancillary measurements and again, accurately determining them is part of the initial consultation.
Final Inspection and Adjustment. Even after all that, assuming the measurements and frame fit are both perfect, unless the frames are personally fit to your head and ears after the lenses have been mounted, they will not perform optimally. This potential problem is also compounded by the severity of your prescription. But even with mild prescriptions, if you are wearing a progressive, no-line lens, this final fitting is crucial. If the fit is skewed 1 or 2 mm either way, your vision will suffer. Additionally, before wearing them, it is critical that an eye care professional double check to make sure the prescription in the eyeglasses exactly matches what was prescribed by your eye doctor. If it doesn’t (and sometimes even the finest lab makes an error) they need to be remade before you begin to routinely wear them. Buying your glasses from a licensed professional helps to ensure that all this is done.
Quality and Service are Remembered Long after Price is Forgotten. Generally, when it comes to the countless number of online eyeglass sellers there are two categories: First, the ones that sell their products really, really cheap. For those websites I would remind you of an old cliché your mama taught you many years ago: If it’s too good to be true, it is. In other words, saving a few bucks is one thing, but if a website is selling eyeglasses for what seems like pennies on the dollar, those are the glasses that are more likely to be dangerous. They’re the ones that probably have many of the characteristics explained above. The second type of online seller offers products a little below what you would pay in a bricks-and-mortar establishment. Now, I can’t speak for all the eye care professionals out there, but allow me to let you in on a little secret that is especially true in today’s economy: If you were to go into your local optical shop and say something like, “I saw this Vera Bradley frame online, and with the kind of lenses I want, when everything is considered, it would cost me $60 less than you’re asking if I bought them on the Internet. Is there anything you can do?” I bet you most opticians would match the price or at least meet you in the middle. Now you have a win-win situation. You save a little money and get all the benefits of in-person, customized service, and the optical establishment gets the chance to establish a new-customer relationship.
In another old cliché, someone once proverbially said, “The eyes are the window to the soul.” In many ways, I think we’d all agree on that one. And in terms of all of our precious senses, which one would you be most devastated by if it were lost? For most of us, I think the answer would be sight. With all that in mind, think long and hard about what you allow to be the only barrier between your eyes and the outside world. I don’t know about you, but for myself and my loved ones…only the best.
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