Contact Prescription Not Given by Doctor?
July 31st, 2010 | See the Top Answers to this Question Below
I just went in for a contact lens exam and fitting but when I came home, I noticed that they only give me a glasses prescription, not a contact lens prescription. I have a follow-up nxt week and i was wondering if i can get it then? i signed a couple of papers without reading them fully, is it possible they scammed me somehow and now i have to buy my contacts from them?
p.s, i got my exam from the O.D nxt to eyemasters
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Go back and complete the follow up appointments. A contact lens prescription might not be complete until your doctor has had a chance to evaluate your eyes following a week of contact lens wear. Oftentimes, a good eye doctor will test several different brands of trial lenses on your eyes before he determines which one is the best fit for you. Demanding a contact lens prescription before the follow-up appointments have been completed is not wise.
If you paid extra for the contacts exam, they should have given you the contacts prescription. If they are trying to hold the contacts script in order to make you buy from them, I’d insist on getting the prescription and then never go back. If they won’t give you the prescription, call the licensing board in your state for opticians. (Whatever state department – it might be the department of health or there may be an optical board or some such).
Call them tomorrow & tell them they forgot to give you your contact prescription. See what they say.
Do you have the papers you signed? As you know it’s not good to be in a rush and not sign papers you haven’t read. If this was contained in the signed papers they didn’t scam you.
OD’s will not give you an acutal contact lens prescription until all follow ups are completed, and you have worn the trail lenses for at least a week, and you and the doctor have deemed them a good fit. Only then will they will then write a prescription for those lenses, and the prescription will be for a specific brand and size of lens and you can therefore purchase that brand and size only.
So you should be wearing trail lenses right now, correct? Or possibly have a trail pair on order at the OD’s office to be given to you when you next go in…
You do have to be careful with most places in that you’re right–they will want to sell you the lenses at full on retail or even more. You do have to watch out for this, as many people are unaware (and therefore not able to argue to the doctor/receptionist) of federal law.
Here is the federal law:
The Federal Trade Commission adopted the Ophthalmic Practice Rules (Eyeglass Rule) and the Contact Lens Rule, which set forth national requirements for the release of eyeglass and contact lens prescriptions. According to these Rules, all prescriptions for corrective lenses must be released to patients, whether requested or not. Following is a brief description of the prescription release requirements:
*Eyeglass prescriptions must be given to the patient immediately following the eye exam
*Contact lens prescriptions must be given to the patient immediately upon completion of the eye exam or the contact lens fitting (if a fitting is necessary). If specialty lenses must be purchased in order to complete to the fitting process, the charges for those lenses can be passed along to the patient as part of the fitting process.
*Contact lens fitting means the process that begins after an initial eye examination for contact lenses and ends when a successful fit has been achieved. In cases of renewal prescriptions, the fitting ends when the prescriber determines that no change in the existing prescription is required.
*If a patient elects to purchase contact lenses from a third party, the seller must verify the prescription before filling it. When requested, optometrists are required to respond to sellers’ requests for prescription verification within eight business hours.
If your first time wearing that particular kind of lens, the doctor must do a followup before writing the prescription. The doctor is responsible for ensuring that the lenses fit your eyes correctly and are not harming them, so a follow up is needed.
Depending on the law where you live, you may have to buy your first supply from them. Where I live, fitting is not considered complete for first time wear until after the three month follow up appointment and doctors are not required to release the contact lens prescription until fitting is complete.