Patient taking refractive eye exam with an autorefractor

By Deborah Yetter –

Morehead State University student Chandra Burnett, 23, a longtime user of contact lenses, said it gets old going every year to the eye doctor and paying around $90 to have her prescription renewed, as required by Kentucky law.

“It’s only good for a year,” she said. “My prescription hasn’t changed for three years.”

Burnett, who orders her contact lenses online, said she would love to also get her prescription renewed online for as little as $20 through a relatively new but expanding business that allows people to get such renewals from a licensed eye doctor.

But Kentucky’s politically powerful optometrists — also generous political donors — are fighting to stop the practice with a bill they say is meant to protect patients.

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