In my home state of Georgia, the governor will soon decide whether to sign a bill outlawing a new technology that allows patients to get a prescription for glasses or contact lenses using a vision test they take themselves, using their laptops and smartphones.
Other state legislatures, including those in Nebraska, Indiana, South Carolina, and Oklahoma, are considering similar laws.
Proponents argue that the technology is unsafe, irresponsible, and hurts the business of licensed professionals. But by this logic, the home thermometer, too, is a dangerous tool in the hands of untrained people. Thermometers inserted, timed, and read by doctors or nurses are safer, more accurate, and more responsible. If you are sick enough to need to take your temperature, you are sick enough that you must see a doctor or at least a nurse.
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