Eye Lobby is Fighting to Get Ocular Telemedicine Banned

(From The Libertarian Republic)

Cellphone apps like Opternative and GlassesOn, allow people to take “eye appointments” with their phones and has allowed people to go to the eye doctor every two years instead of every time they need a contact lenses refill. It’s amazing because it means that people who have eye problems and cannot afford to go the ophthalmologists or optometrist can at least know what they need for contacts without taking time off of work, or wasting time in an optometrist’s office. Plus it allows people to have more free time. It also expands choice because people can now shop online for contacts with the new FTC rules being implemented.

This new technology’s impact on heath still needs to be fully evaluated since it’s well…new. But these concerns over safety, which in some cases might be genuine, are often overblown and misstated. When Virginia was considering a bill to ban online eye exams, Virginia’s licensed ophthalmologists said there was no evidence that that anybody had been injured by ocular telemedicine and that people don’t need yearly eye exams.

However, several states such as Colorado and New Mexico have introduced bills that would restrict people from using apps and online eye exams.

Click here for the article.

http://www.againstcronycapitalism.org/