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Optometrists Take Exception

Optometrists vs. the World • Rebecca • Larry • Gene • Keith • Will • Lee --- Readers Respond • Joe • Kim

Rebecca writes (5/12/03):
I recently visited your website, interested in reading complaints people have sent in regarding eye exams and eyeglass/contact lens sales. I was appalled to find several notices advising patients they needed to see an ophthalmologist/M.D. for their eye exams and implying, if not outright stating, that optometrists who work in retail locations are not qualified for the job. Fifty years ago, that may have been true. Today, that notion is not only ignorant but personally insulting.

I work at a retail store. That fact does not mean I am not an excellent doctor with excellent training who is more than capable of monitoring and treating diabetic patients, glaucoma patients, red eye patients, macular degeneration patients, cataract patients, etc. I didn't go to college for eight years just to learn how to flip a dial and prescribe eyeglasses. I believe all states now give optometrists the right to prescribe topical medications, and the majority of them also give the right to prescribe oral medications. I make no money off the sale of glasses or contact lenses, so there is no conflict of interest like there is with privately owned practices. Furthermore, I would bet a week's pay my average patient spends more face-to-face time with me than he or she would with the average ophthalmologist.

The idea that optometrists, especially those who work at retail stores, are incompetent and only in it for the money is outdated, misleading, and an insult to the profession. I request you edit your website to reflect the truth.

Rebecca E. Loerzel, O.D.

Rebecca should get her eyes checked. We did not say that optometrists are "incompetent." We said it's "a good idea" to have an annual eye exam by an ophthalmologist. How can anyone, especially someone claiming to have her patients' welfare at heart, argue that patients with eye disease should not consult a specialist who is licensed to treat them surgically as well as medically and ocularly, for lack of a better term?