Where can i buy prescription contacts without doctor consent?
Sep 07, 2010 in
Health FAQs
My prescription just ran out and my doctors appointment isn’t for two months. I already know my prescription. Where can i buy contact lenses online without a current prescription?
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5 comments
Melissa W on September 7, 2010 at 2:18 am
These opticians that get on here just kill me. I dont know any other country but the US that requires a YEARLY prescription for contacts. Then they cite if you dont you have bad fitting contacts or incorrect prescription. Health problems..blah blah blah.
Yet folks sell colored non prescription contacts all over the place with no problem. No fittings for the eyes. Sizings etc. No problems.
Yet the opticians STILL want to charge so much that people of limited income (like me, I am unemployed) cant afford to go to them yearly.
My prescription for contacts has not changed in a very long time (years, i cant remember when it last changed). I’ve always maintained that the prescription should be valid for 3 years. But since mine expired 2 years ago and I’ve not had the money for the exam I bought my contacts from http://www.opticalinstitute.com . They are in the UK and they ship quickly. Their prices are very competitive and sometimes better than whats in the US.
2 years now Ive been ordering my own contacts from the UK and 2 years of no problems or issues. Will I get my eyes examined if someday I have health insurance again or if opticians finally decide to charge reasonable exam prices? Probably. After which will I get a new prescription yearly? Probably not.
Anyway, someone else posted on an earlier yahoo question with this company: http://www.lensway.co.uk/ . I’ve not used them but I am going to check their prices out. As I said, I had no problems with optical institute. Just give it 2 weeks shipping time. So if you are running out now order right away.
yagman on September 7, 2010 at 2:18 am
You can do that anywhere the company is willing to commit a federal crime. Federal law prohibits dispensing contact lenses without a written prescription.
EDIT: People that get on here talking about things they don’t understand and have no education whatsoever to discuss the subject "just kill me".
FACT: There are no risks to extending an eyeglasses prescription indefinitely because the glasses do not come in contact with the eyes and therefore have no possibility of causing disease.
FACT: Because contact lenses do come into contact (hence the name CONTACT lenses) they interact with the body and can cause good things and also bad things to happen. Some possible side effects that you may not be aware of without a yearly eye exam — 1) corneal neovascularization 2) superficial punctate keratitis ( increases risk of corneal ulceration) 3) microcystic corneal edema.
The US has a history of being more concerned with protecting its citizens than other countries. Back in the 1960′s European countries allowed their doctors to prescribe a drug called Thalidamide to pregnant women. The US FDA refused to authorize it. There are tons of people in the world today that are now in the mid 40′s who have no arms — just little hands protruding from their shoulders — and poorly formed legs because their mothers were given this drug. Not one of those people, though, lived in the US because the FDA protected US citizens.
So, if you can’t afford to pay for a contact lens exam, you simply shouldn’t be wearing contacts. It is irresponsible to rationalize away the real health issues of contact lenses because you can’t afford them. If you can’t afford them then don’t wear them.
This just kills me. Speaking from a position of education and knowledge. And I’m not an optician. I’m an optometric physician.
william on September 7, 2010 at 2:18 am
What you want is illegal for a company to do by federal law..
cynthia m on September 7, 2010 at 2:18 am
It is illegal in the uk too, to supply prescription contact lenses if the prescription is out of date.
This is for your own protection, because you must check that everything is ok with your eyes for you to continue to wear the lenses. If your optician let you buy lenses for years when there was damage to your eyes I’m sure you’d rush to sue him.
You should plan to arrange your check-up appointments before you run out of lenses.
Jessica on September 7, 2010 at 2:18 am
You can get yearly non-prescriptional color contact lenses for around $30-$45 at http://www.qqcontacts.com. That’s where I usually get mine.
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