The Eyeglass Rule: your glasses prescription is yours

They must hand it over. Immediately. Without being asked.

After a refractive eye exam (the part where they measure what lens power you need), the prescriber must give you one copy of your prescription immediately, before offering to sell you glasses, whether or not you ask for it. Silence on your part does not waive anything; the handover is automatic. (16 CFR 456.2(a)(1))

The copy can be paper, or digital (patient portal, email, text) if you have affirmatively agreed to digital delivery of your prescription through that specific method. A digital copy has to be something you can access, download, and print. An office cannot just decide on its own that "it's in the portal" counts. (16 CFR 456.2(a)(1)(ii), 456.3)

Free means free

The prescriber cannot charge you anything beyond the exam fee as a condition of releasing the prescription. No "processing" charge, no "records" fee for handing you the piece of paper the exam produced. (16 CFR 456.2(c))

One narrow exception cuts the other way: if a different seller later asks the prescriber to verify the glasses it made for you, the prescriber may charge a fee for that verification work, at the time it happens. That is a fee for extra work, not for your prescription.

No strings attached

• They cannot condition the exam on a purchase. An office may not require you to agree to buy glasses from them in order to get an eye exam at all. (16 CFR 456.2(b))
• They cannot make you sign a waiver.A prescriber may not put a disclaimer on the prescription, or have you sign or take home any form disclaiming responsibility for the accuracy of the exam or for glasses another seller makes from it. A prescription stamped "not valid for online orders" or similar is a rule violation. (16 CFR 456.2(d))
• The one legitimate hold: payment for the exam. A prescriber may withhold the prescription until you pay for the exam itself, but only if they would demand immediate payment from any patient, including one who needed no glasses at all. Showing proof of insurance coverage counts as payment. (16 CFR 456.2(a)(2))

New since 2024: the signature that keeps offices honest

The FTC found that many offices simply were not releasing prescriptions, and patients had no proof either way. So the 2024 amendments added a paper trail. If your prescriber has a financial interest in selling eyewear (an optical shop in the office, an affiliation, a co-located dispenser), then after handing you a paper prescription they must ask you to sign a statement confirming you received it, and keep that confirmation for at least three years. If they delivered it digitally with your consent, they must keep evidence that it was sent and accessible. If you decline to sign, they note that and sign it themselves. (16 CFR 456.4, added at 89 FR 60774, July 26, 2024)

The practical takeaway: if an office that sells glasses asks for your signature about prescription receipt, that is the rule working. If they ask you to sign and never actually handed you the prescription, do not sign, and ask for it.

What the prescription must contain, and the PD problem

Federally, a "prescription" means the written lens specifications produced by your exam, plus whatever your state law adds. (16 CFR 456.1(g)) That state hook matters: pupillary distance, the one measurement online glasses orders require, is not on the federal list, and only a handful of states require it. Most offices therefore leave it off, which quietly steers you back to their optical counter. That gotcha gets its own page, including how to measure PD yourself.

If the office does not follow the rule

Start with the calm ask, in person or by email; most refusals fold when someone cites the rule by section. The script tool writes that email for you. If they still refuse, report it to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov and to your state optometry or medical board; the complaint page walks through both.