Get REAL
Say Yes to Patient Safety!
Protecting Clinical Accuracy and Professional Reputations Against Defective Counterfeits
Once viewed as a “victimless crime”, counterfeiting is a malicious act fueled strictly by greed. When poor replicas of precision diagnostic tools are put to use, they cause direct clinical harm. When a counterfeit is purchased, it erodes the reputation of world-renowned gold standard tests and penalizes everyone involved in developing the real assessments. The patients, the eye care professionals, researchers, manufacturers, and inventors are all severely impacted by the deceitful and irresponsible sale of fake products. Determining the authenticity and accuracy of a vision test and related devices can be difficult, but Precision Vision is fully committed to helping practitioners safeguard their clinical data.
What 'REAL' Means to Precision Vision
- REAL products are backed by years of reliable research and numerous peer-reviewed publications.
- REAL distributors of authentic products operate with absolute integrity and align exclusively with trusted companies.
- REAL manufacturers are trusted, properly licensed, and possess years of proven performance and deep contributions to the industries they serve.
How Do You Know If It’s Counterfeit?
Trust Your Instincts
If a price or offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. How do you keep yourself, your patients, and your business safe from fakes? The answer isn't easy and there’s no immediate, foolproof way to spot the difference between a steep bargain and a counterfeit. The best way to expose a counterfeit product is to maintain full awareness, ask direct questions, and review both the product and its manufacturer with your eyes wide open.
Buy from a Reputable Source
Seek reputable sellers and distributors, and verify serial numbers against official manufacturer databases. Scrutinize labels, physical packaging, and structural details. Look for proper credentials directly on the product; you should easily be able to find the name and origin country of the manufacturer. If you cannot find these indicators, it is decisively a counterfeit.
Seek quality assurance: Reliable resellers implement comprehensive inspection procedures and utilize trained technicians to inspect the equipment they sell. They don’t engage in deceptive word games with slight changes to product names.
The counterfeit Pelli Robson Contrast Sensitivity Chart seen here is exclusively available from Precision Vision, Inc. (the licensed manufacturer) and our approved distributors.
⚠️ Industry Alert: Unverified "i-ETDRS" Charts
We recently identified unauthorized entities marketing a line of charts intended to replicate ETDRS layouts, referring to them as "i-ETDRS" charts. We are not aware of any peer-reviewed research or medical publications validating the optotypes used in those charts as acceptable for clinical trials or research following official ETDRS BCVA protocols.
Below is a sample of unverified counterfeit charts currently being solicited as genuine ETDRS items:
These are not acceptable alternatives to ETDRS Standard Optotypes. One of these charts features 8+ confirmed spatial inaccuracies.
Always cross-reference your products with the official layouts shown on the legitimate manufacturer’s website. Ensure your sales quotations line up with standard manufacturer specifications. Once received, compare your item physically to official online images. If you retain any doubts, contact us directly to verify that your supplier is an authorized partner.
Stolen marketing images are frequently utilized online to sell uncalibrated copies of trusted PV OEM Bulbs.
Insist on a Secured Transaction
When purchasing equipment online, always mandate an explicitly secure payment checkout. Do not process an order if you feel uncomfortable with the data protection layers. Ensure the web address begins strictly with https://—the "s" designates security, providing data encryption to guarantee credit card data and credentials cannot be intercepted. Check the Federal Trade Commission’s website to learn more.
Demand Secondary Market Quality Assurance
Avoid look-alikes by demanding precise details regarding your supplier’s quality verification pipelines. Reputable secondary market channels run comprehensive authentication and performance inspections.
As seen in the bulb image, copies sold via third-party listings fail to produce correct light uniformity. Genuine items supplied by Precision Vision are balanced for perfect luminance output using internal diffuser films tuned to the exact requirements of standard illuminator cabinets.
All Tests Are Not Created Equal — Ask REAL Questions:
Examples of Prevalent Counterfeit Schemes
Precision Vision frequently uncovers proprietary tests produced under strict, exclusive license agreements displayed on the websites of untrusted middlemen. We frequently observe brokers soliciting quotes from us to display fake evidence of a supply partnership to private networks or research hospitals. Once an institutional contract is signed, the order is fulfilled using substandard copies offered at impossibly low price points.
For example, stolen product imagery is frequently used to market unauthorized reproductions of Teller Acuity Cards® as "digitally printed". As the exclusive authorized master manufacturer, we confirm that digital printing is entirely non-compliant and represents a counterfeit item.
Deceptive application of stolen imagery marketing fraudulent Teller Acuity Cards® variants as "digitally printed".
Throughout the market, you will encounter copycat charts marketed as genuine, acceptable diagnostic tools. These illicit configurations have been uncovered inside active clinical trials, research departments, and clinics worldwide. As a gold-standard global manufacturer for over half a century, our laboratory evaluations show that the spatial dimensions, character calibration, and contrast ranges of these counterfeit optotypes are severely flawed.
Your Patients & Your Research Deserve Better!
Contact our verification specialists directly for authorization history and baseline serial number checks, or subscribe to receive our product safety alerts.
Teller Acuity Cards® is a U.S. registered trademark of the University of Washington and is manufactured, marketed, and sold under exclusive corporate license to Precision Vision, Inc.
