An Online Vision-Test Startup Is Suing For The Right To Operate, Opternative Reveals
In the latest example of a health-tech startup battling regulators, Opternative, the startup that lets you get a prescription without visiting an eye doctor, is suing South Carolina for the right to operate there.
Since the Chicago startup launched last year, allowing customers to self-perform a $40 vision test on its website and receive a corrective-lens prescription, it’s come under fire by optometrists who call the service unproven and potentially unsafe. The American Optometric Association and local optometrist groups have lobbied against it, including in South Carolina, where a recently passed law prohibits Opternative’s business model. Similar bans are also on the books in Georgia and Indiana; otherwise, Opternative operates in 39 states.
Since the Chicago startup launched last year, allowing customers to self-perform a $40 vision test on its website and receive a corrective-lens prescription, it’s come under fire by optometrists who call the service unproven and potentially unsafe. The American Optometric Association and local optometrist groups have lobbied against it, including in South Carolina, where a recently passed law prohibits Opternative’s business model. Similar bans are also on the books in Georgia and Indiana; otherwise, Opternative operates in 39 states.