YOU NO LONGER NEED TO GO TO YOUR FAMILY DOCTOR TO ADJUST YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICATION!
JUST POP INTO ANY PHARMACY WHERE THEY HAVE ADVANCED BLOOD PRESSURE MEASURING EQUIPMENT, AND THE ON-SITE PHARMACIST WILL JUST "ADJUST" YOUR MEDICATION ACCORDING TO THE RESULTS IT SPITS OUT!
DOES THIS SCENARIO INCREASE OR DECREASE HEALTH SAFETY????? DOES AN INCREASE IN BLOOD PRESSURE RESULTS MEAN HIGHER/STRONGER MEDS ARE ALL THAT IS NEEDED?!?!?
SMARTEN UP AND START SEEING THE BIGGER PICTURE HERE!
anonymous11 - 12 years ago
To John in the US:
With your comments on refractions being performed by technicians. You are confusing some key points: These technicians cannot issue a prescription for glasses - the doctor does. During the "few minutes with the doctor to discuss any further issues" what are they doing? A health check and interpreting those numbers provided from the refraction.
Nowhere in the US can a technician presribe glasses, nor can a prescription be issued without an eye health check by a doctor!
Optometrists in the US do NOT support stand alone refraction in the absence of an eye health exam.
John - 12 years ago
What amazes me is that Optometrists here in the US are giving up refracting and allowing the Opthalmic Techs to do the work. Refractions are now being conducted by Epic and Futura systems taking only three to five minutes. Then in most cases Optometrists don't see the patient but for maybe a minute or two to discuss any further issues leaving the refraction separate from an actual Health Check. Optometrists admitedly say that they spend 16 to 22 hours learning Refraction in school and don't care if it is relugated to Opticians. So what is the big deal? If Opthamologists and Optometrists are willing to give that task away to techs then why not Opticians? Sounds more like a pissing game to me.
green347 - 12 years ago
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sc-health-0222-online-eyewear-20120222,0,1680870.story . Read this story and perhaps even the published journal article; (done by professionals, not media whizzes trying to hit a hot topic and capture an audience). People protect your vision with quality products, its not "worth" it. There is a reason the industry stopped making glass lenses, so quit buying plastic that could shatter in your eye!
Almost an Eye Doc - 12 years ago
In regards to the comment made my Gerrym68, I would like to point out that though an ophthalmologist may be available for medical concerns, this is not the same thing as having a medically-trained professional doing a full eye exam. The reason being that an optician is not trained to detect eye disease in the first place, meaning that they don't know when to refer! I have been in school for almost 8 years in my training towards being an optometrist myself. The "high tech" equipment serves one purpose: to ESTIMATE a patient's prescription. Many factors go towards refining the final prescription, and in almost all cases, the final prescription is NOT what the machine spit out. Furthermore, the equipment that we use to detect eye disease is far different than the auto-refractor, and it takes years of training to use it effectively in the detection of disease. Opticians do many things well- I used to be one. I learned to fit eyeglasses, and make recommendations on frames and lenses for a particular patient, in addition to fitting and adjusting said eyewear. I would not get anyone else to help me with these things. Just like I wouldn't let anyone except another optometrist determine my prescription and detect eye disease.
Vlad - 12 years ago
No. Did your nurse establish your health diagnostic ?
Dr. David Hazlett - 12 years ago
There are several Optometrists in Canada that were Licensed Opticians first. I am one of them. Board certified Opticians are trained to analyze a prescription, guide the patient to a suitable optical product, manufacture and then dispense the required optical aid. Opticianry has been a rewarding and fulfilling profession in its own right. But several of us decided that we wanted to enhance our knowledge and serve our patients in a more complete health care setting. That meant a commitment to several years of training. Education to learn about the whole body, how the various systems interact, ocular ramifications of systemic diseases, the pharmacology of drugs, physiology of the eyes, how they function on levels of neurology, optically and binocularity. Years of study go into understanding the eyes, eye diseases, general health issues and how to analyze the information, determine a diagnosis and arrive at a recommendation to be discussed with the patient.
At your last full eye exam did you listen to what your Optometrist discussed with you? Did you find out how healthy your eyes are, how well they are working individually and as a binocular unit? (Approximately 4% of your friends do not have eyes that work well together - you see them at a 3D movie because they are looking around wondering why everyone else is gasping at the visual effects and they just don't "get it". ) Did your Optometrist discuss the changes that are occurring with your eyes and that will continue to occur? Changes that need to be examined on a regular basis. Like glaucoma, like cataracts, like macular degeneration. Did you also listen as your Optometrist discussed why you need spectacles, or contact lenses, or would benefit from eye surgery? Did you pay attention to the recommendations made regarding the specific type of lenses that should be dispensed if indeed you did need a prescription filled?
In Ontario, you are entitled to a copy of your spectacle prescription. It is only a portion of a complete eye exam. While Optometrists adhere to a dispensing fee schedule plus cost of materials (frames and lenses from the optical suppliers) the rest of the optical marketplace does not. And online retailers for glasses: try finding someone to counsel you about the proper choice of frame and lenses, or measuring for bifocal heights, or fitting the appliance when it arrives, or verifying the power of the lenses, or honoring a guarentee for adaptation to the prescription or a broken frame.
You have one set of eyes that have to last a lifetime. Why would you put them at risk?
Vision: your most precious gift.
Ed - 12 years ago
This is a ridiculous question. Equipment can do a lot, but do you know what to do with the information? It is Professional judgement that is lacking. What do you do with the information in the context of the patient's history? Do you know all the medications that have eye consequences, for example? Anyone that wants to just do a sight test just wants you to buy glasses and to hell with your eyes.
Holly - 12 years ago
Gerrym68-I hope you can get into an ophthalmologist because they don't do routine exams. They specialize in disease. So hope you don't have one.
ML - 12 years ago
@ Gerrym68 - yes, opticians are well trained, but in making glasses and fitting them on the patient. Opticians are not trained in detecting eye diseases, binocular vision problems, or even sight testing because it is out of their scope of practice. The owner of Great Glasses offered his 'sight testing' service without proper training and worse of all did not allow his customers to know that he or his staff were not qualified to do so in order to get the sale; he cannot be looked as a 'hero' in any means if all he did was intentially go beyond what he was trained to do and put his customers' eye health at risk in order to make a sale at his store. Also, how does allowing opticians to do sight testing lower the price of glasses? After getting a comprehensive eye exam with my Optometrist, he gives me my prescription that I can use anywhere, even online; its not like they are making us buy glasses from them. My Optometrist diagnosed macular degeneration in my grandfather and a retinal detachment in my grandmother and both of them had no signs or symptoms prior to seeing him. If my grandparents only went to get an Optician to get a prescription, those diseases won't be diagnosed and they would be blind by now. I'm glad Ontario is not like BC, after a few years when more ppl find out diseases were missed during their 'sight-testing' with Opticians there, Opticians will no longer be able to do 'sight-testing'.
Dr S Habib - 12 years ago
While Opticians are experienced in dispensing and adjusting eyewear, and Ophthalmologists are experts in performing surgical management of ocular diseases, Optometrists have been trained for 4 years in ocular health in addition to 3-4 years of undergraduate studies, to specialize in refraction, ocular disease, and systemic conditions like Diabetes and High blood pressure that can often first present in the eyes. Routine eye exams with an Optometrist ensures for prevention of disease as well as accurate prescriptions that are not solely dependent on the results of a machine like the auto refractor.
james - 12 years ago
I had a glaucoma called normal pressure glaucoma. I was seeing fine, the pressure of my eye was fine, but it was the astute optometrist who examined my optic nerves after dilating my eyes that was able to see the nerve damage going on. She saved me from going blind. A sight testing machine cannot do that. They should make eye examinations by optometrists mandatory, every year or at least every 2 years if you are driving!
Nicky - 12 years ago
Last year I was diagnosed with glaucoma. That was found by my optometrist. She is treating my glaucoma now as well through drops. If I had simply gone for an eye test to change the prescription my glaucoma would have never been found since it is a "silent disease" with no symptoms early on. My optometrist caught it very early. I am so grateful to her. I wouldn't trust my eyes or any one in my families with anyone else. Optometrists don't just check your prescription they do an extremely detailed exam to screen for diseases. Why would you take that lightly? That's worth something to me. It's sad that there isn't much education on how important going for your yearly eye exam it.
CDD - 12 years ago
When you have a trained optometrist performing your "sight test" or refraction, there are subtleties in the change in prescription that are noted that are used during the rest of the eye exam to detect serious eye health issues. There are certain changes seen with developing cataracts or uncontrolled or undiagnosed diabetes for example. The current equipment is good but you will rarely find a final glasses prescription that is exactly the same as one that is spit out by a machine. The "sight test" is an important part of a comprehensive eye exam that detects eye disease that is often asymptomatic. It isn't necesarrily as simple as it seems.
Masie sun - 12 years ago
Opticians are trained to dispense spectacles or contact lenses, and not trained to prescribe the prescription nor diagnose diseases. If you think all the optometrists do are merely based on "high tech" machine, you should be examined by a true optometrist next time. Machines need human knowledge to analyze results and diagnose and decide what to prescribe, just a number in the machine means nothing. If everything is referred to ophthalmolgist without the proper screening, could the opthalmologists really be able to handle all while optometrists are like General practitioner for eye care, so they are trained to diagnose and prescribe. Have a little respect to the true professional.
John - 12 years ago
What the article ignores is you can take your prescription and go anywhere you want to buy your glasses. You're not forced to buy them from your optometrist. So the price of your glasses has nothing to do with who writes the prescription. You take your prescription and shop around for the best price just like you would for any other product.
MMN - 12 years ago
I'm an eye doctor whose own mother-in-law is blind in one eye because she lives in another country where opticians can prescribe eyeglasses and she was under the care of an optician until she noticed a problem. Glaucoma does not give you symptoms until you are already going blind which is why glaucoma specialists have spoken out against opticians prescribing glasses. I just diagnosed a 43 year old this week with glaucoma who had never had an eye exam, no family history of any eye disease, and now "just needed reading glasses". Why would we purposefully reduce the quality of eyecare?
Robert Burke - 12 years ago
Should a flight attendant be able to fly the airplane? (Price of flights will go down!)
Should a legal assistant be a public defender? (Price of lawyers will go down!)
Should I manage your stock portfolio? (Percentage your fund managers keeps goes down!)
The answer to all of these is no. Even though each person is operating in their respective fields, and has an idea of how things work, it takes a true expert in their field to troubleshoot when things go wrong.
HRH - 12 years ago
No, they should not be allowed to prescribe. If they want to prescribe glasses then they should take the seven years of full time education to earn that right, not two years of correspondance while working for an optometrist. These are specialists who educate themselves in keeping us safe from some of the horrors of lost sight through preventable or manageable diseases that can be discovered early through proper full eye exams.
I am disappointed with how Marketplace mislead the public with their story of this optician in Ontario who knowingly prescribed against the law and when he would not stop was taken to court by the College to make him stop before someone got hurt. Even that was not enough and after considerabe disregard for the courts, they dealt with him fully on their own.
Don't blame the professionals who are caught in the middle, look to the manufacturers who control the world supply of these products, where the doctors have to get their products. Lenscrafters is a good start as they are a manufacturer/retailer and supply the internet retailers as well,but dig deeper. Do the whole job Marketplace.
KB - 12 years ago
When you go into a store to buy glasses do they not have to pay the staff to answer the phone? Help you pick your frame? Take the measurements? Fit the glasses? There is an overhead here that the online companies are not dealing with you can't call them to complain, they don't have the staff to adjust or fit your glasses. There is a reason that things are more expensive when they are not online and one is quality the other is service.
JOptix - 12 years ago
No, optician's should not be allowed to prscribe glasses. As an industry professional, many Optician's are severely limited in their knowledge of eye health. They are only required to measure an individual for the placement of the lens in the frame, and to aid in choosing the best frame for their prescription. Often times that proves to be challenging enough for some who are licensed. Eye health should be the sole responsibility of the Optometrist or Opthamolgist.
sm - 12 years ago
Hey lets start a new survey.....should we continue to subsidize CBC for millions of dollars every year?
Survivor - 12 years ago
4 years ago, I visited my optometrist for a routine exam. No symptoms, just wanted new glasses. He discovered a golf ball sized brain tumor and I had surgery within a week.
Waiting for symptoms could have cost me my life & my kids, their mother!
No ways should we allow a teenage technician to perform such a limited eye check!
Wayne - 12 years ago
there is a reason why it is called a prescription.. only health care provider should be able to prescribed
Rachel - 12 years ago
YLL....good point. Next time driving, you gotta wonder if the driver is not seeing clearly enough, but is hesitant to go for a eye exam. When you see more and more truck drivers on the road, makes me really careful I am giving them a LOT of room!
Nicola - 12 years ago
Opticians may be well trained (I am one), but we are not able to provide full eye health examinations. I would never get an "eye exam" from a fellow optician, would I make an appointment with a nurse instead of my medical doctor? Heck no. Optometrist look inside the eye and can catch symptoms of diseases and other problems which a simple sight test can't catch. Fine, get a sight test form an optician, but that is only addressing one factor of an eye exam, the prescription. Neglect the eye health portion and you may pay for it down the line with your vision (or lack thereof).
ss - 12 years ago
How would an optician doing an eye exam change price of glasses??? I'd rather see a doctor and know my eyes are healthy, thank you very much.
As far as price of glasses...i don't get the outrage? I can buy a cheap bottle of plonk for $3 or spend >$1000 for a very special bordeaux: both are essentially grape juice in a glass bottle.
Or a pair of jeans for $9.99 instead of $275 for a pair of True Religions: both are denim.
Most of the time, you get what you pay for right?
rs - 12 years ago
I would rather get my eye exam done by a professional eye doctor with training. Three years ago I went in to just update my glasses and the doctor found that I had glaucoma. I don't believe that this would be caught if I didn't see the doctor and saw a non-doctor. Not sure how this would help with glasses prices - I got a prescription and took it to another store that had cheaper glasses.....
YLL - 12 years ago
Many people with cataracts don't realize they are seeing horribly as the vision decrease very gradually, especially when the good eye covers for the worst eye. They only realize it when they have a standard to compare to. Blurry vision can be due to changes in vision, but it can also be due to many illness from Shingles in the eye, cataract to changes in the inside or the back of the eye. There are many more reported car accidents in recently years, since 2004. I sometimes wonder if it is because people are going to their eye doctors for checkups less frequently, after OHIP no longer cover adults eye exams.
Rachel - 12 years ago
Gerrym68...better yet...do you go to the hospital ER every year (go to get your blood work done, CT, MRI, asap) for your checkup....skip the family doctor and go to the online pharmacy? Sounds like you will save YOURSELF a lot of time.
Samantha - 12 years ago
Should a Dental Assistant be able to slap braces on people or extract teeth?
Personally I'd want a someone with a little more expertise to be fitting me with my medical devices, thanks.
email 3211 - 12 years ago
Where ever you buy your glasses from should measure the PD. The optician, ophthalmologist, optometrist or website. So if you want to do the work yourself, get them online. If you want to buy your glasses at a physical store, pay for the service.
Don't believe anyone giving free eye exams.... they just want your money, not to take care of you
NO !. the eyes are the most vital organ of our body. My father was blind ( 100 %) from the WWI, and I know how difficult the life could be for blind person. an old saying " why fixing if it is not broken...". Ontario, keep the current status. JGK.
email1961 - 12 years ago
I don't think a simple eye test will catch everything. The simple truth is that if after your complete eye exam the optometrist provided the PD (pupillary distance) than more people could more easily shop on line which would force retailers to lower prices. Simply pass a law stating that PD must be provided free of charge.
Sabo Dard - 12 years ago
Equipement doesn't cut it. I would like someone educated for more than 4 years with the proper knowledge and training to exam my eyes... on optometrist or an opthalmologist.
Not someone with a correspondance course.
Gerrym68 - 12 years ago
Opticians are well trained, and supervised. The current equipment is very "high tech" and if properly used is good on analysis. There should always be an opthalmologist available by referral for medical concerns, which cannot be dealt with by an optician.
THINK OF THIS...
YOU NO LONGER NEED TO GO TO YOUR FAMILY DOCTOR TO ADJUST YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICATION!
JUST POP INTO ANY PHARMACY WHERE THEY HAVE ADVANCED BLOOD PRESSURE MEASURING EQUIPMENT, AND THE ON-SITE PHARMACIST WILL JUST "ADJUST" YOUR MEDICATION ACCORDING TO THE RESULTS IT SPITS OUT!
DOES THIS SCENARIO INCREASE OR DECREASE HEALTH SAFETY????? DOES AN INCREASE IN BLOOD PRESSURE RESULTS MEAN HIGHER/STRONGER MEDS ARE ALL THAT IS NEEDED?!?!?
SMARTEN UP AND START SEEING THE BIGGER PICTURE HERE!
To John in the US:
With your comments on refractions being performed by technicians. You are confusing some key points: These technicians cannot issue a prescription for glasses - the doctor does. During the "few minutes with the doctor to discuss any further issues" what are they doing? A health check and interpreting those numbers provided from the refraction.
Nowhere in the US can a technician presribe glasses, nor can a prescription be issued without an eye health check by a doctor!
Optometrists in the US do NOT support stand alone refraction in the absence of an eye health exam.
What amazes me is that Optometrists here in the US are giving up refracting and allowing the Opthalmic Techs to do the work. Refractions are now being conducted by Epic and Futura systems taking only three to five minutes. Then in most cases Optometrists don't see the patient but for maybe a minute or two to discuss any further issues leaving the refraction separate from an actual Health Check. Optometrists admitedly say that they spend 16 to 22 hours learning Refraction in school and don't care if it is relugated to Opticians. So what is the big deal? If Opthamologists and Optometrists are willing to give that task away to techs then why not Opticians? Sounds more like a pissing game to me.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sc-health-0222-online-eyewear-20120222,0,1680870.story . Read this story and perhaps even the published journal article; (done by professionals, not media whizzes trying to hit a hot topic and capture an audience). People protect your vision with quality products, its not "worth" it. There is a reason the industry stopped making glass lenses, so quit buying plastic that could shatter in your eye!
In regards to the comment made my Gerrym68, I would like to point out that though an ophthalmologist may be available for medical concerns, this is not the same thing as having a medically-trained professional doing a full eye exam. The reason being that an optician is not trained to detect eye disease in the first place, meaning that they don't know when to refer! I have been in school for almost 8 years in my training towards being an optometrist myself. The "high tech" equipment serves one purpose: to ESTIMATE a patient's prescription. Many factors go towards refining the final prescription, and in almost all cases, the final prescription is NOT what the machine spit out. Furthermore, the equipment that we use to detect eye disease is far different than the auto-refractor, and it takes years of training to use it effectively in the detection of disease. Opticians do many things well- I used to be one. I learned to fit eyeglasses, and make recommendations on frames and lenses for a particular patient, in addition to fitting and adjusting said eyewear. I would not get anyone else to help me with these things. Just like I wouldn't let anyone except another optometrist determine my prescription and detect eye disease.
No. Did your nurse establish your health diagnostic ?
There are several Optometrists in Canada that were Licensed Opticians first. I am one of them. Board certified Opticians are trained to analyze a prescription, guide the patient to a suitable optical product, manufacture and then dispense the required optical aid. Opticianry has been a rewarding and fulfilling profession in its own right. But several of us decided that we wanted to enhance our knowledge and serve our patients in a more complete health care setting. That meant a commitment to several years of training. Education to learn about the whole body, how the various systems interact, ocular ramifications of systemic diseases, the pharmacology of drugs, physiology of the eyes, how they function on levels of neurology, optically and binocularity. Years of study go into understanding the eyes, eye diseases, general health issues and how to analyze the information, determine a diagnosis and arrive at a recommendation to be discussed with the patient.
At your last full eye exam did you listen to what your Optometrist discussed with you? Did you find out how healthy your eyes are, how well they are working individually and as a binocular unit? (Approximately 4% of your friends do not have eyes that work well together - you see them at a 3D movie because they are looking around wondering why everyone else is gasping at the visual effects and they just don't "get it". ) Did your Optometrist discuss the changes that are occurring with your eyes and that will continue to occur? Changes that need to be examined on a regular basis. Like glaucoma, like cataracts, like macular degeneration. Did you also listen as your Optometrist discussed why you need spectacles, or contact lenses, or would benefit from eye surgery? Did you pay attention to the recommendations made regarding the specific type of lenses that should be dispensed if indeed you did need a prescription filled?
In Ontario, you are entitled to a copy of your spectacle prescription. It is only a portion of a complete eye exam. While Optometrists adhere to a dispensing fee schedule plus cost of materials (frames and lenses from the optical suppliers) the rest of the optical marketplace does not. And online retailers for glasses: try finding someone to counsel you about the proper choice of frame and lenses, or measuring for bifocal heights, or fitting the appliance when it arrives, or verifying the power of the lenses, or honoring a guarentee for adaptation to the prescription or a broken frame.
You have one set of eyes that have to last a lifetime. Why would you put them at risk?
Vision: your most precious gift.
This is a ridiculous question. Equipment can do a lot, but do you know what to do with the information? It is Professional judgement that is lacking. What do you do with the information in the context of the patient's history? Do you know all the medications that have eye consequences, for example? Anyone that wants to just do a sight test just wants you to buy glasses and to hell with your eyes.
Gerrym68-I hope you can get into an ophthalmologist because they don't do routine exams. They specialize in disease. So hope you don't have one.
@ Gerrym68 - yes, opticians are well trained, but in making glasses and fitting them on the patient. Opticians are not trained in detecting eye diseases, binocular vision problems, or even sight testing because it is out of their scope of practice. The owner of Great Glasses offered his 'sight testing' service without proper training and worse of all did not allow his customers to know that he or his staff were not qualified to do so in order to get the sale; he cannot be looked as a 'hero' in any means if all he did was intentially go beyond what he was trained to do and put his customers' eye health at risk in order to make a sale at his store. Also, how does allowing opticians to do sight testing lower the price of glasses? After getting a comprehensive eye exam with my Optometrist, he gives me my prescription that I can use anywhere, even online; its not like they are making us buy glasses from them. My Optometrist diagnosed macular degeneration in my grandfather and a retinal detachment in my grandmother and both of them had no signs or symptoms prior to seeing him. If my grandparents only went to get an Optician to get a prescription, those diseases won't be diagnosed and they would be blind by now. I'm glad Ontario is not like BC, after a few years when more ppl find out diseases were missed during their 'sight-testing' with Opticians there, Opticians will no longer be able to do 'sight-testing'.
While Opticians are experienced in dispensing and adjusting eyewear, and Ophthalmologists are experts in performing surgical management of ocular diseases, Optometrists have been trained for 4 years in ocular health in addition to 3-4 years of undergraduate studies, to specialize in refraction, ocular disease, and systemic conditions like Diabetes and High blood pressure that can often first present in the eyes. Routine eye exams with an Optometrist ensures for prevention of disease as well as accurate prescriptions that are not solely dependent on the results of a machine like the auto refractor.
I had a glaucoma called normal pressure glaucoma. I was seeing fine, the pressure of my eye was fine, but it was the astute optometrist who examined my optic nerves after dilating my eyes that was able to see the nerve damage going on. She saved me from going blind. A sight testing machine cannot do that. They should make eye examinations by optometrists mandatory, every year or at least every 2 years if you are driving!
Last year I was diagnosed with glaucoma. That was found by my optometrist. She is treating my glaucoma now as well through drops. If I had simply gone for an eye test to change the prescription my glaucoma would have never been found since it is a "silent disease" with no symptoms early on. My optometrist caught it very early. I am so grateful to her. I wouldn't trust my eyes or any one in my families with anyone else. Optometrists don't just check your prescription they do an extremely detailed exam to screen for diseases. Why would you take that lightly? That's worth something to me. It's sad that there isn't much education on how important going for your yearly eye exam it.
When you have a trained optometrist performing your "sight test" or refraction, there are subtleties in the change in prescription that are noted that are used during the rest of the eye exam to detect serious eye health issues. There are certain changes seen with developing cataracts or uncontrolled or undiagnosed diabetes for example. The current equipment is good but you will rarely find a final glasses prescription that is exactly the same as one that is spit out by a machine. The "sight test" is an important part of a comprehensive eye exam that detects eye disease that is often asymptomatic. It isn't necesarrily as simple as it seems.
Opticians are trained to dispense spectacles or contact lenses, and not trained to prescribe the prescription nor diagnose diseases. If you think all the optometrists do are merely based on "high tech" machine, you should be examined by a true optometrist next time. Machines need human knowledge to analyze results and diagnose and decide what to prescribe, just a number in the machine means nothing. If everything is referred to ophthalmolgist without the proper screening, could the opthalmologists really be able to handle all while optometrists are like General practitioner for eye care, so they are trained to diagnose and prescribe. Have a little respect to the true professional.
What the article ignores is you can take your prescription and go anywhere you want to buy your glasses. You're not forced to buy them from your optometrist. So the price of your glasses has nothing to do with who writes the prescription. You take your prescription and shop around for the best price just like you would for any other product.
I'm an eye doctor whose own mother-in-law is blind in one eye because she lives in another country where opticians can prescribe eyeglasses and she was under the care of an optician until she noticed a problem. Glaucoma does not give you symptoms until you are already going blind which is why glaucoma specialists have spoken out against opticians prescribing glasses. I just diagnosed a 43 year old this week with glaucoma who had never had an eye exam, no family history of any eye disease, and now "just needed reading glasses". Why would we purposefully reduce the quality of eyecare?
Should a flight attendant be able to fly the airplane? (Price of flights will go down!)
Should a legal assistant be a public defender? (Price of lawyers will go down!)
Should I manage your stock portfolio? (Percentage your fund managers keeps goes down!)
The answer to all of these is no. Even though each person is operating in their respective fields, and has an idea of how things work, it takes a true expert in their field to troubleshoot when things go wrong.
No, they should not be allowed to prescribe. If they want to prescribe glasses then they should take the seven years of full time education to earn that right, not two years of correspondance while working for an optometrist. These are specialists who educate themselves in keeping us safe from some of the horrors of lost sight through preventable or manageable diseases that can be discovered early through proper full eye exams.
I am disappointed with how Marketplace mislead the public with their story of this optician in Ontario who knowingly prescribed against the law and when he would not stop was taken to court by the College to make him stop before someone got hurt. Even that was not enough and after considerabe disregard for the courts, they dealt with him fully on their own.
Don't blame the professionals who are caught in the middle, look to the manufacturers who control the world supply of these products, where the doctors have to get their products. Lenscrafters is a good start as they are a manufacturer/retailer and supply the internet retailers as well,but dig deeper. Do the whole job Marketplace.
When you go into a store to buy glasses do they not have to pay the staff to answer the phone? Help you pick your frame? Take the measurements? Fit the glasses? There is an overhead here that the online companies are not dealing with you can't call them to complain, they don't have the staff to adjust or fit your glasses. There is a reason that things are more expensive when they are not online and one is quality the other is service.
No, optician's should not be allowed to prscribe glasses. As an industry professional, many Optician's are severely limited in their knowledge of eye health. They are only required to measure an individual for the placement of the lens in the frame, and to aid in choosing the best frame for their prescription. Often times that proves to be challenging enough for some who are licensed. Eye health should be the sole responsibility of the Optometrist or Opthamolgist.
Hey lets start a new survey.....should we continue to subsidize CBC for millions of dollars every year?
4 years ago, I visited my optometrist for a routine exam. No symptoms, just wanted new glasses. He discovered a golf ball sized brain tumor and I had surgery within a week.
Waiting for symptoms could have cost me my life & my kids, their mother!
No ways should we allow a teenage technician to perform such a limited eye check!
there is a reason why it is called a prescription.. only health care provider should be able to prescribed
YLL....good point. Next time driving, you gotta wonder if the driver is not seeing clearly enough, but is hesitant to go for a eye exam. When you see more and more truck drivers on the road, makes me really careful I am giving them a LOT of room!
Opticians may be well trained (I am one), but we are not able to provide full eye health examinations. I would never get an "eye exam" from a fellow optician, would I make an appointment with a nurse instead of my medical doctor? Heck no. Optometrist look inside the eye and can catch symptoms of diseases and other problems which a simple sight test can't catch. Fine, get a sight test form an optician, but that is only addressing one factor of an eye exam, the prescription. Neglect the eye health portion and you may pay for it down the line with your vision (or lack thereof).
How would an optician doing an eye exam change price of glasses??? I'd rather see a doctor and know my eyes are healthy, thank you very much.
As far as price of glasses...i don't get the outrage? I can buy a cheap bottle of plonk for $3 or spend >$1000 for a very special bordeaux: both are essentially grape juice in a glass bottle.
Or a pair of jeans for $9.99 instead of $275 for a pair of True Religions: both are denim.
Most of the time, you get what you pay for right?
I would rather get my eye exam done by a professional eye doctor with training. Three years ago I went in to just update my glasses and the doctor found that I had glaucoma. I don't believe that this would be caught if I didn't see the doctor and saw a non-doctor. Not sure how this would help with glasses prices - I got a prescription and took it to another store that had cheaper glasses.....
Many people with cataracts don't realize they are seeing horribly as the vision decrease very gradually, especially when the good eye covers for the worst eye. They only realize it when they have a standard to compare to. Blurry vision can be due to changes in vision, but it can also be due to many illness from Shingles in the eye, cataract to changes in the inside or the back of the eye. There are many more reported car accidents in recently years, since 2004. I sometimes wonder if it is because people are going to their eye doctors for checkups less frequently, after OHIP no longer cover adults eye exams.
Gerrym68...better yet...do you go to the hospital ER every year (go to get your blood work done, CT, MRI, asap) for your checkup....skip the family doctor and go to the online pharmacy? Sounds like you will save YOURSELF a lot of time.
Should a Dental Assistant be able to slap braces on people or extract teeth?
Personally I'd want a someone with a little more expertise to be fitting me with my medical devices, thanks.
Where ever you buy your glasses from should measure the PD. The optician, ophthalmologist, optometrist or website. So if you want to do the work yourself, get them online. If you want to buy your glasses at a physical store, pay for the service.
Don't believe anyone giving free eye exams.... they just want your money, not to take care of you
NO !. the eyes are the most vital organ of our body. My father was blind ( 100 %) from the WWI, and I know how difficult the life could be for blind person. an old saying " why fixing if it is not broken...". Ontario, keep the current status. JGK.
I don't think a simple eye test will catch everything. The simple truth is that if after your complete eye exam the optometrist provided the PD (pupillary distance) than more people could more easily shop on line which would force retailers to lower prices. Simply pass a law stating that PD must be provided free of charge.
Equipement doesn't cut it. I would like someone educated for more than 4 years with the proper knowledge and training to exam my eyes... on optometrist or an opthalmologist.
Not someone with a correspondance course.
Opticians are well trained, and supervised. The current equipment is very "high tech" and if properly used is good on analysis. There should always be an opthalmologist available by referral for medical concerns, which cannot be dealt with by an optician.