Seeing Alternatives

Townhall.com ^ | September 6, 2017 | John Stossel

[Kaslin]

I just got new glasses -- without going to an optometrist.

It's another innovation made possible by the internet.

Going to an optometrist can be a pain. You have to leave work, get to an optometrist's office, sit in a waiting room and then pay an average of $95 (in my town). But I got a prescription for just $50 -- without leaving my computer.

This is possible thanks to a company called Opternative ("optometry alternative"). The company claims its online test is just as good as an in-person eye exam.

I was skeptical. It's over the internet! How can a computer replicate what optometrists do in their offices with impressive-looking machines?

"This is the beauty of technology," answered Dick Carpenter, director of strategic research for the libertarian law firm the Institute for Justice.

Carpenter researched Opternative's test and concludes that it is just as good as an in-person exam. "Sometimes better, some research has indicated."

Here's how it works: First, you answer some medical questions.

Then, while holding your cellphone, you follow prompts on the phone while looking at your computer screen, selecting which lines look sharper, or which numbers you see.

One day later, they send you a prescription. Mine exactly matched the prescription I got from my ophthalmologist, a medical doctor who charges much more.

Fast, cheap, and easy.

So naturally, optometrists want this alternative banned. "This is really foolhardy and really dangerous," said former American Optometric Association president Andrea Thau on "Good Morning America."

She wouldn't do an interview with me. Nor would anyone else from her Association -- despite our sending them emails for a month.

I assume they knew I'd mock them for trying to ban the competition. Which they are trying to do. They wrote the FDA that the at-home test "should be taken off the market."

What they're really saying is that patients should not have the right to make any choices in their own vision care.

The optometrists are bottleneckers. "Bottleneckers: Gaming the Government for Power and Private Profit" is the title of Dick Carpenter's new book. He studies how established professionals use government to limit competition.

Cosmetologists get laws passed that force hair-braiders to spend $5,000 on useless courses and tests. Restaurants limit food trucks. Established florists ban newcomers. Optometrists want to ban Opternative's test.

Bottleneckers like them have clout in legislatures because their lobbyists give politicians money. They persuaded 13 states to draft bills that would ban at-home tests.

In South Carolina, then-Governor Nikki Haley vetoed the ban, correctly calling it anti-competitive. But the legislators were beholden to the optometrists' lobby; they overrode her veto.

The optometrists say that a home test is too risky because no doctor is there to look for diseases. I confronted Opternative's spokesman about that. He said the test's questionnaire filters out sick people by asking questions like: "Any health conditions? ... pregnancy, nursing, diabetes ... Any medication that affects your vision? ... Sertraline, Amitriptyline...?"

Obviously, a questionnaire is not as good as a doctor. But it does screen out some people. Opternative rejected me the first time I tried. I then lied about my age to test their service.

I don't recommend lying on medical forms. But a cheap internet prescription is not much of a threat to public health.

Barbers claim an unlicensed barber might give you a bad haircut or cut you.

Florists say an unlicensed flower arranger might spoil your wedding.

The optometrists at least have a better argument: The at-home eye test might miss a disease.

But I say we consumers should get to choose what risks we take.

I choose to go to an ophthalmologist because I can afford it, and at my age, I want a glaucoma test.

But many young people don't want to spend that money. And many people just don't have time. That's probably why lots of Americans never go to any eye doctor, ever. Opternative at least gives them an alternative -- a way to get a prescription without going to a doctor.

It's good to have a choice.

[Kaslin]

I had my cataract surgery at the Blanchfield Army Community Hospital (BACH) in Fort Campbell, Ky in November and December 2012. I had never worn any glasses other than reading glasses which I needed after the age of 40. It was hard for me to see the telephone numbers in the phone book unless I went outside.

The first time I went to an optometrist on post and he prescribed glasses for me. After they wore out, I bought them at the drug store or at Walmart. I even bought a pair or two at Dollar Tree

After I was done with my cataract surgery and the followup checkup, my optometrist prescribed glasses for long vision or something like that when I drive long distance, which I don't or very seldom. I don't even bother with the glasses.

I have my annual checkup in the ophthalmology clinic next week as I have diabetes Type2

[Kaslin]

My husband has always worn glasses because his eyesight is very bad.

After he retired from the army in 1979 he got the idea in the 80s or 90s that he had trouble hearing, which he probably had. He blamed it on his two vietnam tours. He was a helicopter tech inspector. Well anyways he made an appointment with an audiologist here in our town who charged him $3000 for the hearing aid. He wore it maybe for a year or so, but then stopped wearing it.

A few years ago he complained again that he had trouble hearing so he made an appointment at Fort Campbell, Ky with the audiologist. The hearing aid she prescribed for him were only $500, but he only wore them for a few month. I am tired having to yell at him when I say something because he refuses to wear his hearing aid.

I could tell you a thing about his dentures too.

[mfish13]

Hope everything checks out well with the doc.

[Kaslin]

If you have diabetes a yearly eye checkup is a must.

[Neidermeyer]

Barbers claim an unlicensed barber might give you a bad haircut or cut you.

Florists say an unlicensed flower arranger might spoil your wedding.
***************
The last 2 weddings I’ve been to the flowers were a DIY , nobody can afford a florist ..

After spending thousands on beauty school I’d be surprised if 1/10 of the graduates can cut a mans hair without clippers.

[mountn man]

I wasn’t at all upset when I walked in, mistakes happen, but after that mis-treatment, I’ll never darken the doors of America’s Best again. Oops, I mentioned their name.

Whoooo???

[mountn man]

Put a number 4 on some clippers and run it all over my head and I’m good to go.

$11 with a coupon, including the tip, at Great Clips.

The vibration of the clippers is like a scalp massage.
The hum almost puts you to sleep.

[mountn man]

I am tired having to yell at him when I say something because he refuses to wear his hearing aid.

I wonder why he refuses to wear it??? ;)

Got my mom one of these. Not perfect, but much cheaper than hearing aids.

[Neidermeyer]

I wonder why he refuses to wear it??? ;)
**************
Most of the time old people refuse to acknowledge that they have a hearing problem ,, you’re just mumbling! And look right at me when you talk damnit! You know that makes it hard to hear...

But the worst is that because they can’t hear they don’t know the volume of their voice .. so they usually speak very low themselves making you ask them to repeat constantly...

[bert]

I would suggest it is just something else to worry about and take time to fool with

As one who wears a hearing aid and actually lost another, I want to advise my fellow Freepers on the subject. There are very good hearing aids available for a range of prices on Ebay. You can get a good one for $100 and a really good one for a little more. I actually replaced the lost one fo $100 and wear it exclusively to watch TV where I find it hard to understand some women or whispered dialogue.

Although Chinese stuff is frowned on by many here, remember there are more old Asian men that can’t hear than Americans. They are a huge market and are served well.

To pay thousands for a hearing aid is foolish with the large variety available on ebay of both Asian, European and American manufacture

[Neidermeyer]

Too late for the person I care for ,, she denied any problem because of vanity (I don’t want to look old!) for so long effectively cutting herself off from any meaningful conversations and knowledge input that I think it accelerated her dementia.. now every morning the hearing loss is a surprise!!

I agree that effective solutions can be found for reasonable prices ... I have a home in Asia but haven’t been able to get back for several years because of my mothers condition...

[Yaelle]

And yet the CNTRL LEFT calls itself progressive.

[Yaelle]

This is my mom. Her hearing is getting much worse but since she has dementia, she doesn’t admit it. She refuses to wear hearing aids and she was an audiologist herself! We’ve bought her all kind she of expensive aids but she won’t wear them. And at this point she can’t “learn” any more so it would be too frustrating anyway.