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Comment by wonderwonder | Hacker News Reader

This did strike me as strange. Imagine going to a doctor getting a blood test and being told your numbers are good or bad but the doctor refusing to give you the actual result. They are your results, you paid for them and are part of an overall need to understand your health.

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> you paid for them

most places that sell glasses do those for free tho. I agree they should be given out and they do in europe, or at least in the two states I lived, but being paid for is not the angle to come at it from

I don't think I've ever had a free exam in Ontario— my insurance covers one (up to like $200 or something) every two years, so that's about the cadence I get them on.

So it's a paid-for thing; I don't feel bad about taking the prescription and buying glasses online. That said, the glasses from the shop last way, way longer than the online ones, so I really just use online for sunglasses or like to get novelty frames for a costume or something.

I'm in Ontario, too, and couldn't get my PD from Laurier Optical. So I left, went on Amazon, and bought a PD Distance Measurer for a couple of hundred bucks. Did my whole family, and now my wife feels better about ordering from Zeni. Saved enough on a single pair of glasses to pay for the meter.

"Free" exams aren't free, the cost is included in the frames purchase. You can pay for an eye exam and walk out with a prescription, you just have to explain your intent.

Not always. My place doesn't do it.

Doesn't do what?

I don't know about the US (I thought HIPAA was very comprehensive...?) but in the UK you are legally entitled to view personal data about yourself. It wouldn't matter if you paid for the test or not, if it's on file you should be able to access it.

I think a more apt analogy is that the doctor gave you your blood test results (just as they'll give you your prescription without the PD), but refused to characterize the color "A deep shade of crimson with a touch of scarlet", which is something that you can do yourself with a little knowledge.

So you're still getting the information that requires special training or licensing, and you can get the other information yourself if you really want it.

I actually read up on the local legalese around this (for Switzerland), and it turns out that doctors can refuse to share information with the patient if they consider it unhelpful/dangerous to do so, but have to share it with other medical staff should they request it.

Especially in the context of psychotherapy or when using placebos, this makes a lot of sense.

I found it fascinating, after moving to Finland and having an MRI scan done, that it was possible to order a copy of the results on CD-ROM posted to my house.

Having worked in the medical field in the past exploring a DICOM dataset was no challenge, and the end result is I have a rotating 3D-view of my own brain! (Well just blood vessels, but still ..)

Here in the US, I got an MRI at a 3rd party lab (not a hospital), and they gave me a copy on CD-ROM as I walked out. I didn't even have to ask! I was quite surprised, as I assumed the results would just be shared with my doctor electronically. I have no idea if I would have gotten this same treatment if I had paid 10x as much for the MRI at Stanford Hospital. (I'm guessing not).

You do. We got MRIs on disc at UCLA Santa Monica, free of charge. It's pretty standard.

Right, except that the test at a optician is often free (in Germany at least).

A couple of years ago I had my vision test done (in Texas) and at the end I asked for my prescription. The PD measurement wasn't on there so I asked for it and was told that is measurement is taken when I buy glasses. I offered the person $20 to just do the measurement and give me the number and they wouldn't do it.

If you go to an eye doctor they will give it to you. At least in German

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