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1-800 CONTACTS offers at-home refractions

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Online retailer 1-800 CONTACTS now offers its customers a way to obtain a contact lens prescription online through the use of a smart phone and a computer.

With InstaRx powered by Opternative, customers can “answer a few questions then take the exam,” according to the 1-800 CONTACTS website.

“Opternative ophthalmologists review and approve prescriptions within 24 business hours,” the site states, and customers will, “receive a signed Rx you can use anywhere.”

The American Optometric Association released a statement indicating that the group “is concerned that offerings such as InstaRx put patient health in danger.”
The AOA said that such “questionable sales practices” “can ultimately undermine the patient-doctor relationship, give a false sense of health security and compromise care.”

Eleven states have enacted laws that regulate the usage of such technologies, according to the AOA.