... when suddenly my spectacles' prescription ran out. So said Steven Wright[1]. I always thought that was funny in an new-way-to-see-it kind of way but as with a number of things that reference US culture -- usually The Simpsons -- it's funnier (and in this case, sadder) when you have even more knowledge of the environment from which it comes. To wit, corrective lens prescriptions actually do run out in the US.
Glasses -- though I'm not sure about general reading spectacles -- are treated more or less as a drug. Contact lenses are regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration and cannot be purchased without a current prescription, with lens prescriptions being valid for a year. This contrasts with my experience in Germany -- not exactly noted for its free-wheeling market approach -- where contact lenses were available off the rack in a supermarket. I assume they are regulated in some way, like many products, but their availability didn't appear to be hampered. This statement quite surprised my optometrist who obviously knew of all the untold dangers an incorrect prescription might foist upon an unsuspecting victim. He was just a little hard pressed to give them when I asked what they were.
My point to him was: if you put on someone else's glasses, immediately you know they are not right, even for subtly difference prescriptions. If you keep them on you merely get a headache, possibly a very big headache. If you persist even further and determinedly work through that migraine then -- and here is the dangerous part -- your brain simply adapts. This is quite a different danger to taking the wrong drug or dosage that might, say, cause your kidneys to fail or your stomach to start bleeding. If there are more severe consequences to purchasing contacts on an out-of-date prescription, please chime in. I'd hate to think my many German friends are needlessly and thoughtlessly exposing themselves.
Don't get me wrong, I believe in having the correct prescription for your genetically (or otherwise) inferior eyes. When I made the jump to contacts a little while ago I had an eye examination and a couple of lessons on the fitting and care of them. I was pretty sure my prescription hadn't changed and, when it came time to resupply in the US, I had trouble finding lenses in the stores. I was told by an optician friend that I would need a prescription before purchasing. Bit strange, I thought but no problem, I'll get them online ... however they do require you to disclose your optometrist. Unfortunately, they didn't have a listing for that nice lady in Germany. Eventually, of course, I had to play the game, coughed up my money for, effectively, a lens subscription, but not without clear-sighted protestations. Oh, and my freshly-minted prescription is identical to my previous.
[1] Possibly.
The irony of social democracy:
ReplyDeleteYour old enough to vote, but not old enough to make your own decisions.
that is a very funny story - sad enough that this is reality
ReplyDeleteContact lenses off the shelf sound like heaven! Here in Oz, I not only had to get a new prescription (because my old one had run out), but then I had to wait whilst the optometrist ordered in the lenses I needed. Oh, and I had to pay A$350 for one pair when I'd paid US$37 for the same pair at Wal-Mart three years earlier, and they'd had them in stock.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise that prescriptions literally had en expiration date in Australia. I never wore contacts there but I believe I have purchased spectacles based on my previous (expired) prescription. Perhaps I was mistaken. The cost for a new set of glasses sounds pretty excessive, even for Australia. Hard to compete with Wal-Mart for price too!
ReplyDeleteSounds like their lobby group AOA-PAC has been doing its work! Jonathan
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have thought that simple things like optometry would be so different outside the US. Its not exactly "culture shock" but I'm sure its been irritating if not stressful trying to put up with us American's who think the whole world works like ours. Again, thanks for helping me look outside the proverbial box.
ReplyDelete