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Why you cannot Buy Contact Lenses without Prescription
Many contact lenses buyers feel that it is ironic that they can buy cigarettes/alcohol and smoke/drink themselves to death but they are denied from buying a life necessity like a simple contact lens! Your contact lenses are useless to others; moreover, when you want to buy contact lenses, you will only do so with a genuine medical/physical need for them. Why then is the law so unjust? The reason is that contact lenses are classified as “medical devices” according to the US, UK and Canadian laws. People with insufficient knowledge about the technical problems involved in fitting and wearing of contact lenses may further damage their eyesight leading to blindness. This constitutes a genuine danger to you, the buyer. So technically, selling them to you without a prescription from a certified optometrist or an ophthalmologist is illegal.
Flourishing Online Contact Lenses Businesses
However, sale of contact lenses is a flourishing online business where online outlets do much more business than regular retail outlets. So then, how are they able to establish such high volumes of sales?
The answer is that only companies not based in US or Canada can offer sale of non-prescription contact lenses online. Further, even though companies based in the US or Canada are not allowed to sell you cheap contact lenses online without prescription, some companies trust you to have your prescription and don’t request you to fax a copy of it. For many online retailers, a token submission of your ECP’s phone number is enough to make a sale.
Will You Be Breaking the Law?
You will not be breaking any law by ordering contact lenses without a valid prescription from a company that is not based in the US or Canada. If you are buying from a company based in Canada or USA, it will be that company that will be breaking the law if it sells you the contact lenses without a valid prescription from you. Moreover, there is never any guarantee that your contact lenses will ever arrive after you submit your credit card online to a non-US or non-Canadian company offering an unbelievable discount.
However, even if the online company is very reputed and trustworthy, ordering contact lenses without a valid prescription is not an advisable thing to do. Though contact lenses are available at great rebates online, it is much safer to obtain a valid prescription from your ECP. You can then select them online without hassle and save a lot of money.
The most common contact lenses sold without prescription are the plano (plain contacts without power) colored contact lenses and Halloween contact lenses which merely enhance your appearance. Even if you have 20/20 vision, you are advised against buying even colored or halloween contact lenses there is an essential parameter called the base curve of your eyeballs. This can only be measured by your ECP. You should also know how to fit them on without damaging your eyes.
Rules for Contact Lenses Prescribers
According to law, the ECP must give the patient a prescription after completing examination and finalization of the patient’s contact lenses requirements. The ECP must also verify the contact lenses prescription if asked to do so by an online contact lens seller. Further, the ECP must give the seller information whether the prescription is valid, invalid, or has expired.
Rules for Contact Lenses Sellers
The seller must provide the buyer contact lenses only on producing a valid prescription, or details of a prescription that are verified by the concerned ECP. Further, when a buyer fills up the online form with the contact lens details, the seller is required by law to contact the ECP to verify the correctness of the prescription before finalizing the sale of lenses to the buyer.
Contact Lenses Verification
When a lens seller requests an ECP for verification of a contact lenses prescription, the ECP has to do it within 8 hours of submission of the request. If the ECP fails to do so, the contact lenses prescription is considered as verified. The seller can then sell the contacts to the consumer without further communication with the ECP. Moreover, the seller is also required to maintain the prescription details of all contact lenses they sell, the requests for verification they send to the ECPs, and the ECP response to every single request.
Contact Lenses Online Stores Reviews
Ordering contact lenses online not only saves you money, it is also convenient and safe. However, please remember that this is the case only when you order from reputed and trustworthy online retailers. Three top online contact lens retailers are CoastalContacts.com, ACLens.com and 1-800Contacts.com.
Conclusion
When a person buys contact lenses without prescription, the person might have forgotten the fact that contact lenses do not fit everyone. The amount of tears, shape of the eye, and need for correction, is different from one person to another. To get the right fit and choice, you are advised to visit your ECP and get your eyes examined carefully. Remember, in most cases, you are not obliged to buy from your ECP. So you can take the prescription from your ECP and happily purchase online. Even if you do buy contact lenses without prescription, you need to remember that fitting and wearing contacts are highly sensitive and technical. Moreover, not cleaning the lenses in the right schedule and method can cause eye infection and damage. |
