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Answer:

"The PD measurement is required as part of a spectacle (glasses) lens prescription, which must be provided to you at the end of a complete eye examination by an optometrist.

The only exception is the next regulation after the one you quoted, Section 6 subsection 5, which states:

"(5) Subsection (4) (e) does not apply to a registrant

(a) who does not engage in the dispensing of corrective eyeglass lenses, and

(b) whose practice of optometry is not associated or affiliated with another person who engages in the dispensing of corrective eyeglass lenses."

It is possible your optometrist falls into this category, whereby he or she does not take measurements for or dispense glasses. However what is unique about your situation is that they already have it on file. Given that the government ruling requiring the PD on the prescription may have been made after the day of your last eye exam, patients who go back to retrieve prescriptions issued before the ruling date may have to pay a reasonable fee to have the PD measurement taken and the prescription re-written. An Advisory sent to optometrists by their College on September 2nd 2010 advised the same.

If your goal is to have glasses made online, then remember that even having a correct PD cannot guarantee the glasses will fit or work. The vertical size of the lens, the bridge size, the temple length, and where your pupils fall vertically within the lens all factor into a successfully fit pair of glasses. I have spent countless hours counselling my patients (unfortunately at their out-of-pocket expense) on how to fix problems they are having with glasses they bought cheaply online, and I myself have ordered a few test pairs with the same mixed results.

In the end if you measure your own PD, as the online retailers teach you to, and get it wrong, it won`t make the outcome any worse than getting the wrong frame size or shape for your particular face shape or visual needs. Measuring for and dispensing of glasses has been a precise science requiring extensive training for many years, and online dispensing has only made that more clear.

Remember, clear vision begins with healthy eyes!

Gurpreet Leekha, OD" 

Original Question:

"Can my optometrist refuse to provide my Pupil Distance (PD) on my perscription? I looked up the Health Professions act of BC in reference to the Optometrists Regulation and noted that section 6 sub section 4E states that they "must set out the named individual's interpupillary distance, as measured at the time of the eye health examination." They have stated that the PD measurement is not part of the eye examination and thus have to charge me $50 to have it checked, I previously purchased glasses at their location and they did admit they had my PD value on file but according to their policy they do not have to give it out. I spoke to my Member of Legislative Assembly and he agreed that they have to give me the PD value on my prescription."