Eyeglasses aren’t opioids. There’s no reason we should need to see an optometrist to buy glasses. You don’t in the rest of the world, and you didn’t in the US either until optometrists lobbied aggressively under the banner of “public safety.”
For decades, opticians, trained with just a few weeks of coursework, tested vision and sold glasses directly, just like they still do in Europe, Asia, and most of the world. Outside the US, vision correction (opticians) is kept separate from medical eye care (ophthalmology). In the US, we created the field of optometry and then they lobbied hard to take over vision correction because there is more money in selling glasses than in doing medical tests.
By the 1970s, every state required prescriptions, shutting out opticians and cementing an optometrist monopoly.
The result: in Europe you can walk into a shop, get tested, and leave with glasses for about $50 all-in. In the US, you are forced into a $200 exam and $300 frames. What should be simple and cheap has been turned into a racket, and consumers pay the price.
Much like barber licensing (some states require 2,000 hours of training just to braid hair), this kind of gatekeeping drives up costs without protecting consumers. Vision correction should be cheap and accessible, not locked behind a monopoly!
My next pet project will be to liberalize state eyeglass prescription laws because getting an exam every year is a pain in the butt and I didn't realize most other states have longer durations.