
Contact lens startup Hubble sold lenses with a fake prescription - ilamont
https://qz.com/1154306/hubble-sold-contact-lenses-with-a-fake-prescription-from-a-made-up-doctor/
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tlb
Can an incorrect prescription can cause permanent eye damage? What is
requiring a prescription supposed to protect someone from, other than
protecting the optometrists' business model?

I've been making up my own prescriptions for years. I had the astigmatism
measured, but I like to set my own reading power to focus on my screen in the
most comfortable position.

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joecool1029
>Can an incorrect prescription can cause permanent eye damage?

There's a few ways you could get eye damage from even a correct prescription.
One way is corneal staining (basically scratches on your eye) that becomes a
bigger issue with some sorts of contact solution and contacts worn past their
expected time.

Improperly fitted contacts can cause irritation and damage. There are many
types of contacts suited to different wear patterns. There are also
formulations of silicone hydrogels where people are allergic to the wetting
agent. A doctor should be able to figure this out and switch you to a
different composition if this poses a problem.

Other issues are infection and oxygen starvation. The cornea absorbs oxygen
and when you have an old contact in for too long the eye does things like grow
veins where they should not be, eventually causing blindness.[1]

Long story short, you should be getting checkups to make sure your eye isn't
getting screwed up from contact lens wear, but under the situation of being
stuck with old pairs or getting replacements without a script, I'd say the
latter is probably safer.

[1][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corneal_neovascularization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corneal_neovascularization)

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gumby
I don't see the problem here (despite that fact I am not happy with companies
that want to "disrupt" things by ignoring safety rules). Sounds like they
followed the rules (as the article says, you can leave a voice mail and assume
all's well if you hear nothing). And indeed the optometrist's association is a
racket so no wonder they are squealing.

By the way the "no news is good news" rule isn't _that_ unusual: if you file
an IND (request to experiment with a new drug or existing drug in a new way)
the FDA has 30 days to tell you "no" or "wait, we need more info" \-- no
response is considered an OK (though they are free to push the stop button
later). Although I have not had that happen (got positive OK from the agency)
I have plenty of colleagues who have gone all the way (phase II, NDA even)
without ever getting an IND response from the FDA.

Let's save the outrage articles for deserving cases -- it's not like there's a
shortage.

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geocar
I'm weirdly outraged at the author:

It's a confused kind of outrage because on one hand, if she actually believes
she's doing a public service by pointing out how lax the law is and how loose
this company is being with public health, then maybe I want her to know
civilised countries let you order contacts online without a prescription! It's
a non-issue; nobody is going to lie about contact lenses, it's extremely low
risk, and honestly, maybe the company should be praised (she just doesn't know
it).

On the other hand, if she's just into clickbait and doesn't _care_ about
public safety; that she's actually willing to hatchet-job a company,
potentially ruin those employees lives, and cost anyone who needs contact
lenses more money (which is wow! expensive in the US! A box of 30 lenses is
like £8 here!), then seriously, what a jerk!

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jdmichal
> civilised countries let you order contacts online without a prescription!

> which is wow! expensive in the US! A box of 30 lenses is like £8 here!

These two points are probably related.

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kristofferR
The US is such an absurd country. You can buy guns and a lot of serious drugs
that are labelled as supplements freely, yet you need a prescription for
lenses...

Do you also need a prescription for glasses?

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PhasmaFelis
I mean, getting contacts/glasses without a prescription isn't going to do you
much good. It's a little odd that it's mandatory, but I can't imagine any
reason you'd want to do otherwise.

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scotty79
If your last glasses broke somehow you can get new ones just buy measuring old
lenses and making new ones same.

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ganoushoreilly
I've not input prescription in 800 contacts in years and consistently order
contacts without a problem. I don't think this as unique a situation as is
being implied.

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piptastic
I've had them kick-back two or three times that a prescription was required
and they couldn't reach my eye doctor (from 2001). I generally just re-submit
it the next day and it goes through.

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ythn
Who cares? The whole eye prescription thing seems like a shakedown anyway.
Keep paying for a new Rx every 2 years if you want new glasses/contacts even
if you can still see crystal clear with your current prescription.

I got a glasses prescription 5 years ago and haven't paid for another one
because I can still see 20/20\. I order my glasses from Zenni where you can
just punch the prescription in and get the glasses in the mail.

This is a non-story.

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J5892
No real prescription needed?

Looks like I just found my new contacts provider.

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PhasmaFelis
Why?

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ythn
Because OP can order more cases of his current contacts without paying an
optometrist for a "new" prescription

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scarface74
I can't find a problem with this. If someone wants to fake a prescription, who
are they harming besides themselves?

But then again, I also think it's crazy that if I stopped by the drug store to
buy some pseudoephedrine on my way to gun show, it would be illegal to sell
the pseudoephedrine but legal to sell the gun.....

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kazinator
I don't understand why Alison Griswold wrote an article to complain that an
online business promptly and correctly filled her order.

It's just a bunch of little lenses, not a shipment of plutonium.

You can buy reading glasses in various diopters off a self-serve rack in
pharmacies and other kinds of retail outlets.

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toomanybeersies
The headline makes it sound like Hubble is sending people random lenses, that
aren't the ones that they want from their prescription.

The actual case is that they just skirt around the regulations that require a
prescription. Where I live, we don't need a prescription for lenses, and we
manage to survive.

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joecool1029
I've been buying contact lenses online for around a decade now and never once
had to prove I had a prescription.

It's saved my ass a few times while traveling.

