I only recently bought new glasses and after the automated check diverged a bit from my old values the store’s optometrist checked my eyes more thoroughly.
I didn’t have to pay anything for those checks and I didn’t have to show my insurance card. (I also payed 200€ for the frame and 200€ for the glasses so I sort of expected that level of service.) I also just could have told them to make me +0.75 (left) and −1.25 (right) glasses without any checks and they would certainly have no problem making them for me. (It makes sense to check, that’s why something like that is unlikely to ever happen.) I don’t really see the regulatory hurdles. Are you really telling me that you can’t just walk into a store and tell them which glasses you want? Do you really need a prescription? That seems unlikely.
German health insurance (at least the mandatory health insurance I’m using) doesn’t pay anything for glasses, getting a prescription is consequently not really necessary. Maybe you don’t trust the optometrist and want someone with a PhD to check your eyes – that’s certainly possible (and that’s what will cost the insurance).
Just checking your eyes, though – especially if it’s not the very first check after you noticed that something’s off with your vision – is something private companies in Germany seem to be more than happy to do without ever getting the insurance involved.
By the way, those automated devices are certainly not quite as precise but their main disadvantage is that they are dumb. I have slight Astigmatism, meaning one of my eyes has problems focusing light into one point and instead focuses it into a line. The resulting image is blurry but only in one direction. The automated device in my store couldn’t detect that, the optometrist could.
Also there is a lot more that goes into getting proper glasses than going through a refraction (which I'm guessing is what this does) and measuring pupillary distance (which I don't think this device can do). And contacts are a medical device which always require seeing a professional to get a prescription.
I don't think this would be much of a threat, and is probably too basic to be useful in a developed country.
EDIT: This link shoes what the NETRA can do:
That's part of what I'm arguing against. If you can get the information required to select the right contacts without seeing a professional, I think that's your right. If you get it wrong because, well you really should have seen a professional, that's your problem.
A lot of the regulations concerning doctor supervision for drugs and medical devices are intended to prevent companies from marketing devices that are ineffective or dangerous to consumers who don't have enough information to make a good decision. I can sympathize with that goal, but it's heavy-handed enough to keep some reasonable options for medical care out of the reach of low-income people who might otherwise be able to access them.
Also, you really are supposed to own a pair of glasses for the situations in which you cannot safely wear contacts which effectively makes contacts a luxury item, not really suitable for people who cannot afford the fitting and health check nor the follow up visits in a situation where something goes wrong (e.g. an eye infection).
Recently my sister saw a patient who lost partial vision because she had an infection and just put some Visine drops in (it constricts the blood vessels reducing their appearance, which exacerbated her health issue) and wore her contacts anyway for several days, ignoring the pain.
That is an extreme example but contacts are a whole 'nother can of worms compared to glasses. It isn't really as simple as having your prescription and your fit and sending you on your way. And it is really best to follow the doctor's suggestions, don't overwear, use the solution as directed, keep them out when you eye is irritated, etc.
Oh and let me not even go to the spectacles cost. 150$ for a 'cheap' titanium frame, ya right :).
Edit: clarity.