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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!tektronix!orca!andrew
From: andrew@orca.UUCP (Andrew Klossner)
Newsgroups: net.med
Subject: Re: contact lenses : doctor vs dispenseries
Message-ID: <1159@orca.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 14-Nov-84 02:42:28 EST
Article-I.D.: orca.1159
Posted: Wed Nov 14 02:42:28 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 16-Nov-84 01:24:33 EST
References: <2078@ucla-cs.ARPA>
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR
Lines: 34

[If column one of this line is blank, they'll eat my dog.]

	"At one end, I have visited a hot-shot contact lens doctor -
	consultant to lens manufacturers, expert in the field, etc.
	Without doubt, he knows his stuff and going to him would be
	quite safe.  And at $600, quite expensive - he's in demand and
	he knows it ... At the other end of the spectrum, there are the
	dispenseries. They sell lenses for much less than the doctor
	(~$200), and the quality of the doctors at such places is
	unknown."

At the third end of the spectrum is the ophthalmologist, especially one
who isn't flashy and in demand.  An ophthalmologist is an MD who
specializes in the eye; this is as opposed to an optometrist, who can
prescribe lenses but isn't trained in other aspects of eye problems, or
an optician, who dispenses lenses but normally can't prescribe.

When I needed contacts, I looked at the yellow pages and picked the
ophthalmologist closest to my home.  I got a long overdue eye checkup
for $50, which included the glaucoma test.  (Health insurance would
have covered it had I been employed at the time.)  After that, I took
his package deal: for $200 (separate from the $50 checkup), a pair of
soft contact lenses and all necessary follow-up visits.  And I even got
to try the contacts for an hour to decide whether I could stand to have
them in my eyes; if I had turned them down, I wouldn't have owed
anything.

The price was competitive, and I wanted someone who really knew all
about eyes.  Maybe I got lucky and stumbled onto a gem of a doctor.
But my recommendation is that you check out what the local
ophthalmologists have to offer.

  -- Andrew Klossner   (decvax!tektronix!orca!andrew)      [UUCP]
                       (orca!andrew.tektronix@rand-relay)  [ARPA]