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TO HEALTH, MEDICAL, AND NATIONAL EDITORS:
American Optometric Association Cautions Consumers about Claims of
Online Eye Exams
ST. LOUIS, March 6, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- To protect
consumers' eye and vision health, the American Optometric Association
is warning the public about the false claims that internet companies
can provide an online "eye exam." These claims are confusing and
misleading. Consumers should understand that only an in-person exam
by a doctor of optometry or an ophthalmologist can determine how well
they see and whether or not they need corrective lenses. In addition,
every day, in patients seen for "routine" examinations when they have
no symptoms, doctors of optometry diagnose and manage diabetes,
hypertension, glaucoma, macular degeneration or cataracts. Anyone
claiming to perform an eye exam without physically examining a patient
is offering insufficient, ambiguous information and is contributing to
a patient believing-incorrectly-that his or her eye health needs have
been met.
The claims of those who market online eye testing should be thoroughly
scrutinized and evaluated; these claims may harm patients and hinder
care needed to diagnose important underlying, and often asymptomatic,
health problems. Any delay in intervention will result in progressive
damage to vision, and more costly and intensive treatments later in
life.
Consumers will be at significant risk regarding proper diagnosis and
treatment of potentially sight-threatening and even life-threatening
diseases if they are not properly evaluated by an eye doctor. Doctors
of Optometry and other physicians are able to interpret refractive
error changes and the possible implications of those changes to the
consumer's state of eye and general health.
"To help safeguard consumers, the AOA is closely monitoring
Internet-linked assertions about eye exams without doctors," says
Mitchell T. Munson, O.D., president of the AOA. "And, we'll play an
even more active role in fact-checking false claims."
The AOA provides the public a helpful guide to the components of a
comprehensive eye exam on its web site here
About the AOA: The American Optometric Association, a federation of
state, student and armed forces optometric associations, was founded
in 1898. Today, the AOA is proud to represent the profession of
optometry, America's family eye doctors, who take a leading role in an
individual's overall eye and vision care, health and well-being.
Doctors ofoptometry (ODs) are the independent primary health care
professionals for the eye and have extensive, ongoing training to
examine, diagnose, treat and manage disorders, diseases and injuries
that affect the eye and visual system, providing two-thirds of primary
eye care in the U.S. For information on a variety of eye health and
vision topics, and to find an optometrist near you, visit www.aoa.org
.
SOURCE American Optometric Association
-0- 03/06/2014
/CONTACT: Susan Thomas, slthomas@aoa.org, 314-450-6313
/Web Site: http://www.aoa.org/
CO: American Optometric Association; AOA
ST: Missouri
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SU: NPT AVO
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