Contact Lenses and Cronyism
Hooray for Veronica de Rugy, who is .
What makes the contact lens market unique — and also leaves it extra vulnerable to crony intervention — is the fact that customers are required by federal law to obtain a prescription from a licensed optometrist in order to purchase lenses.
It is a rare instance where prescribers are also sellers, which leads to a cozy relationship between manufacturers and the doctors who can steer patients toward their brand.
Prescriptions are brand-specific, which makes it difficult for consumers to shop around. Choosing a different brand would require paying for another exam in order to obtain a new prescription.
The simplest solution would be to do away with the gatekeepers altogether and allow the purchase of contact lenses without a prescription.
It works just fine that way in Europe and Japan
I feel like I have been the lone voice in the wilderness on this one, :
I drive into my local Shell station to fill up, and stick my card in the pump, but the pump refuses to dispense. I walk into the office and ask the store manager why I can't get gasoline. She checks my account, and says "Mr. Meyer, your Volvo fuel prescription has expired." I say, "Oh, well its OK, I am sure I am using the right gas." She replies, "I'm sorry, but the law requires that you have to have a valid prescription from your dealership to refill your gas. You can't make that determination yourself, and most car dealerships have their prescriptions expire each year to make sure you bring the car in for a checkup. Regular checkups are important to the health of your car. You will need to pay for a service visit to your dealership before we can sell you gas." I reply, "RRRRRRR."
OK, so if this really happened we would all scream SCAM! While we all recognize that it may be important to get our car checked out every once in a while, most of us would see this for what it was: A government regulation intended mainly to increase the business of my Volvo dealership's service department by forcing me to pay for regular visits.
So why don't we cry foul when the exact same situation occurs every day with glasses and contact lenses?
Shane:
Not that you would really know this but birth control pills have the stupid same cronyism happening. If the Coke party was really interested in getting rid of Planned Parenthood, they could end this practice.
April 18, 2016, 1:37 pmLoneSnark:
Yep. Contact lenses and birth control. Regulatory capture at its purest.
April 18, 2016, 5:43 pmfrankania:
Uh, it is simple; go to another country, like Mexico. Have a nice vacation, and stock up on medicines, lenses, surgery, etc. I have been doing it from the USA since the 1970's and had NO health insurance. Some private clinics have doctors you can consult for LESS than $2.
April 19, 2016, 6:26 amAbby Hoffman:
Not that anyone would REALLY do such a thing, but it is pretty easy to gin up a "prescription" for contact lenses, which COULD be faxed in to the contact lens vendor.
April 19, 2016, 1:12 pm