Incorrectly written or filled eyeglass Rx's
pw...@yahoo.com
incorrectly written by the prescriber or filled by the lensmaker.
Check this story: http://www.iatrogenic.org/badglasses.html , which
only discusses the latter situation, but doctors or their assistants
sometimes write the wrong Rx in the first place, also.
Otis
You are correct. There is a very bad habit of making errors, or
over-prescribing a minus for a child.
The only way to make certain -- is to read your own Snellen, BEFORE you
go for an eye exam. Thus if you are 20/40 (pass all DMVs) and
get a -1 to -1.5 diopter perscription (as often happens) you are
over-prescribed.
Here is another example -- of an over-prescription by -4 diopters.
The child, when checked by the mother was at -6 diopters (20/20). Yet
the "official" precription was from -10 diopters.
I totally lost confidence in these ODs.
Here is the example.
Otis
================
COMMENTARY FROM A CONCERNED MOTHER ABOUT THE NEED TO DO YOUR OWN
CHECKING WITH AN EYE CHART
AN EXCESSIVELY STRONG PRESCRIPTION?
HOW OFTEN DOES THIS HAPPEN, AND WHAT IS THE LONG-TERM EFFECT AND
CONSEQUENCE?
I have retyped this letter from the original and changed the names.
Jeanie's daughter started out (at age six) with 20/50. She received a
strong minus lens -- even though 20/50 is acceptable for most children.
After years of receiving minus lenses stronger than necessary, she
received a lens increase from -6.0 to -10.0 diopters. Jeanie's
suspicion and response is described in the following paragraphs.
JEANIE BRAVE'S LETTER:
Here are copies of my daughter's eye records and
prescriptions. You will never know how grateful I am for you and
Mr. Severson. When I stop and think of what could have happened
to Shanna had I not found you -- my blood starts to boil. I have
come to realize that people never question eye doctors as they do
medical doctors. We are all at their mercy and do not even know
it. You have my permission to give my telephone number to anyone
who you feel needs it.
A CHECK-UP BEFORE SCHOOL
Shanna received the new contacts on August 5. She puts in
-10.0 Diopter and is able to see -- she says one mile down the
road. I immediately told her to take them out. After begging my
optometrist to please give me information to stabilize her vision,
he becomes EXTREMELY UPSET. I then went to the libraries and book
stores looking for information but I found only William Bates'
name. I then ordered his book. Next I found Mr. Severson and
finally you in the back of his book. After reading your books I
immediately knew I had the wrong optometrist -- so I nicely asked
his assistance in obtaining a -6 Diopter lens for studying. The
doctor reluctantly gave them to Shanna, telling us to use them for
STUDYING ONLY. I then confirmed the focal status of Shanna's
eye's, by assisting her in checking her vision against the eye
chart -- both inside and outside.
8/26/95 20/20 -8.0 RE -7.5 LE
8/26/95 20/100 -6.0 RE -6.0 LE (Provided for reading)
8/31/95 20/40 -6.0 RE -6.0 LE
9/26/95 20/20 -6.0 RE -6.0 LE (See the -10.0 D prescription below)
Since she was seeing so well on 9/26/95, I told her to remove
her contacts and then come back outside. Without ANYTHING on she
stood 20 feet away and could focus on the 20/70 and 20/50 line for
about 2 or 3 seconds -- then she said it would flash or float
away.
An Excessive -10 D Prescription?
Prescription by Dr. Bob Smyeth, Optometrist, Dated 8/5/95:
Patient: Shanna Brave, Birth Date, 3/2/82:
8/5/85 20/20 -10.0 RE -9.5 LE (Prescription)
In subsequent conversations with Jeanie, she stated that her nine
year-old son was just starting into nearsightedness, and that she would
do everything in her power to help her son with the proper use of the
plus lens -- to avoid the catastrophic situation that had developed
with her daughter. Jeanie wondered why this knowledge is not made
generally available to the parents of young children.
pw...@yahoo.com
said something strange to me. He gave me a new prescription, but
advised me to keep the one I had instead, because he said my previous
Rx was actually better for general near and far vision, and that the
new Rx was 1 diopter or something stronger and I wouldn't like it as
well. So, I said WTF, but paid him and left anyway. I should have
pressed him about the hypocrisy of his advice I think.
When I took my previous Rx to an optician, she said she couldn't fill
it because it was more than a year old, but I argued with her about my
eyes being mine and not hers and then she relented and said she would
fill it, but required my signature that I was using an older Rx against
her advice.
I don't know if the state laws about Rx's here or anywhere else really
allow you to just sign that you want the older Rx filled, but I think
it's a good idea if they did. I think it's silly otherwise to not
allow the consumer to choose for him or herself. I'd say they should
at least allow you to fill a 4 or 5 year old glasses Rx if you choose.
Otis wrote:
> Dear Friend,
>
> You are correct. There is a very bad habit of making errors, or
> over-prescribing a minus for a child.
...