Quote:Discuss.
From: Joe Carroll [mailto:jcarroll@revpachotels.com]
Sent: Friday, May 26, 2006 5:09 PM
To: 'susan.aumann@house.state.md.us'; 'william.frank@house.state.md.us'; 'john.trueschler@house.state.md.us'
Subject: Optical prescription "law"?
I have a few questions about a law I learned about today.
I broke my glasses this morning and went to a Lenscrafters to get a new pair, assuming they could just read my prescription from my existing lenses and make me new ones. I was told they didn't do that anymore and needed a written prescription, so I called the place that made my old glasses to ask them to fax it over. Imagine my surprise when I was told that my prescription was "expired" and, while they could send it to me, no optician would make glasses from it because "making new glasses from an expired prescription is ILLEGAL in Maryland".
A little background here...I am 34 years old, and have been wearing glasses since I was 7. Through many visits to opticians, I have had the exact same prescription since I was 15. Today I was in a bind, as my only pair of glasses was broken and I needed to get a pair made as quickly as possible as cheaply as possible. The glasses I was wearing, right up until the moment I broke them, were working just fine so I can see NO potential harm in an optician making me an identical pair. The only possible harm would be that I wouldn't pay some doctor for a service that I felt I didn't need. In the end I had my arm twisted and paid the money to get an exam. Lo and behold, the prescription the doctor came up with was IDENTICAL to the one she read off my existing lenses. So I spent my hard earned money for something I didn't want for no good reason other than "the state says so".
That leads me to my questions. I've talked to quite a few people who are as taken back by this as I am. All assumed it was "doctor's advice" to review your prescription every few years, and not some legislative mandate. I've searched the internet and Maryland's online system and come up empty. Is this in fact a law, or is it eye doctors trying to force me into paying for something I don't want?
If it IS a law, when was it passed, who were it's sponsors and what were the purported reasons for it being so necessary? Is it the result of a true need to protect the interests of the public or is it the result of large campaign contributions by an opticians lobby? If this is really a law, I'd consider it yet another example of over-regulation and government intruding into areas of our lives where they don't belong. People like myself are entirely capable of making informed decisions on our own and shouldn't be forced into doing something we don't want to, especially when it involves involuntarily spending money on unneeded services.
Cable wrote:Get over it, your script *could* have changed.Yeah, you're right. I've only been wearing glasses since you were still @!#$ting green and I don't know my own eyes. I don't know for a fact that I've had an identical prescription for almost 20 years. None of that is true and you're right...I should just get over it. Hell, maybe I'll go buy a Mac today too. Moron.
GAM (The Kilted One) wrote:^^^ Macs would require an interface unit that's only available for PC's anyhow.
Either way, they use a proprietary *NIX, and laser corrective surgery leads to night-blindness more often than not, so I've heard.
Cable wrote:actually JIMMYZ; You are going to be driving, therefore it IS the states responsibility to make sure you have the right scriptIn Maryland, a basic eye test is part of your drivers license test/renewal. If you can't pass the test without glasses you're required to take it with your glasses on and will have a restriction put on your license stating that you require glasses or contacts. I have that restriction and passed the test when I last renewed my license. Beyond that my vision and glasses are none of the state's business.
Cable wrote:Why dont you just get laser eye surgery?My vision with my existing prescription glasses tests at over 200/20. I can read street signs from hundreds of yards away and can read a stock ticker on a 13" TV from across a large room. Laser vision correction generally says you "can achieve 20/20 vision" but they usually only guarantee 20/30 (the minimum required in most states to drive without glasses). There are also the well known side effects as well as the danger of something going wrong. I'm better off with glasses than I could ever be with "corrected" vision.