Ask Lemmy

First off (if you are in the US) this isn't just up to state law it’s a violation of federal law.

Under the FTC's Eyeglass Rule (and Contact Lens Rule), eye care providers are legally mandated to release a copy of your prescription immediately upon completion of the exam, whether you ask for it or not, and before attempting to sell you eyewear. They cannot withhold it or force you to buy frames from them first.

If your prescription is still valid (under a year old), call or visit the office and politely but firmly let the front desk or office manager know that withholding a valid prescription violates the FTC Eyeglass Rule, and ask for a printed or emailed copy immediately. Mentioning the FTC usually gets corporate staff to fix the issue real fast without needing to drag the new OD into a formal state board complaint.

If the prescription is expired or nearly expired, save yourself the headache, go to an independent practice for a fresh exam, and leave a detailed review online explaining how the corporate office handles patient records.

If that dude can give you your prescription and won't, then fuck him. You paid money for that exam and it's owed to you.

https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/

I needed an old prescription from a previous place and the doc didn't want to give it to me at first since it was a few years old. As soon as I told them I wasn't trying to get an old prescription filled, that my current doc had sent me there to get it to help determine my new prescription we've been having trouble narrowing down, she turned it right over.

Leave. They were bought by private equity through intermediaries, just like my vet's office. Find a owner operator.

I mean, he selected the company to sell his practice to, so whatever fallout from that is on him, not you.

Burn it down

I mean, what's their reason?

I was military when I still needed contacts, and had to see a lot of different civilian optometrists all over the country just to get contacts.

I've got this weird thing where my pupils just stay dilated, nothing is wrong with my eyes, I'm just always adrenalized especially back then before I was medicated for it. Not talking dinner plates, not even really consciously noticable, but people always think I'm some sort of "interested" in them, it's enough that people pick up on it subconsciously, or if an optometrist is giving me an exam and measure it.

Out of like a dozen optometrists, only one said they wouldn't prescribe contacts, and their reason was my pupils dilate too much and I should just wear glasses.

Filing a complaint wouldn't have done anything, that was their medical opinion.

I just did what was easiest, and went to a different optometrist and got a prescription for contacts.

It's possible there's a reason they won't, and it might just be a grey area.

Just go see someone else.

Edit:

I don't need contacts now because I had to get LASIK, and I had to pay like $200/eye extra because it required an extra thing someone had patented due to how wide my pupils dilate. Like, normal LASIK wouldn't have done all of my lens I see through.

There's just weird shit like that, it's human variation.