Same-day care
Sudden vision loss in one eye needs same-day care.
Call an eye doctor or go to the emergency department.
Call the office 570-453-2020Find an eye doctor 5 officesSchedule an exam Pick your office
This page lists what helps us see your patient quickly. This website does not collect patient information. Please do not send protected health information through this site or by email to a general address.
How to reach us
Same-day evaluation: call the office at 570-453-2020 and let the team know it is a same-day request. Send clinical details by fax to 570-453-1020 or through your usual secure channel. You can also refer a patient or ask a question by email.
For privacy, please don’t include patient names or other identifying details in email. Our team will call to schedule and gather details securely.
General contact and referrals: Hazleton Eye Specialists, phone 570-453-2020, fax 570-453-1020.
Offices in Hazleton, Stroudsburg, Nanticoke, Pottsville, and Bangor. All five have OCT, OCT angiography, and fundus photography with autofluorescence. Addresses are on Find an Eye Doctor.
Is it an emergency?
- Sudden vision loss in one or both eyes: same-day evaluation. Call the office at 570-453-2020 or send the patient to the emergency department.
- Age over 50 with vision loss plus headache, jaw claudication, scalp tenderness, fever, or weight loss: emergency department for possible giant cell arteritis. Do not delay treatment waiting for an eye exam. See Giant cell arteritis.
- Vision loss with focal neurologic symptoms: call 911 (possible stroke).
A fuller urgency table is on When to refer.
What to send (by fax or secure channel)
Every referral – Patient name, date of birth, phone number, and insurance – Reason for referral and how urgent it is – Your name, practice, phone, and fax for our reply – Current medication list
If the patient is on, or starting, a GLP-1 RA – Agent, dose, start date, and titration schedule – Indication (type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular, kidney, sleep apnea, other) – Recent A1c values with dates (helps us judge the risk of early retinopathy worsening) – Recent blood pressure readings, antihypertensive agents, and the time of day they are taken – Known sleep apnea and CPAP use – Any prior NAION, optic nerve disease, or retinopathy you know of
If GCA is a concern (after sending the patient for emergency care) – ESR, CRP, and CBC with platelets, if drawn – Steroid start date and dose
If papilledema or IIH is a concern – Headache history, any neuro-imaging reports, and LP results. See Papilledema and IIH on GLP-1 medicines.
What we send back
A summary of the findings, including optic nerve and retinal status, imaging obtained, and the recommended follow-up interval. For patients on a GLP-1 RA, we will note any findings relevant to the medication decision and leave that decision to you and the patient.
Dr. Deom’s recommendation (clinical opinion / practice recommendation)
Dr. James Deom recommends that everyone starting or taking a GLP-1 medication have a comprehensive dilated eye exam with OCT, OCT angiography (OCTA), and retinal photography (fundus photos with autofluorescence) as a baseline and for follow-up, and seek same-day care for sudden vision loss.
This is his clinical opinion and practice recommendation, not a society mandate. AAO and NANOS do not recommend routine examination solely to predict NAION, and no exam or imaging test reliably predicts or prevents an acute event. The baseline is intended to document disc anatomy and retinal status for later comparison and to detect other eye disease. See the study comparison for where professional positions agree and differ.
Dr. James Deom’s personal clinical thought
This is his opinion, not established evidence. It is not a finding from the studies or a position of the FDA, EMA, AAO, NANOS, or AOA.
As patients lose weight and their overall health improves on GLP-1 medicines, blood pressure and cholesterol medicines are often not re-addressed. Over-treatment of blood pressure may lead to hypotension, which can worsen at night and could cause nighttime hypoperfusion of the optic nerve. That sequence would fit the typical presentation of NAION (vision loss noticed on waking).
He recommends that people on GLP-1 medicines also improve exercise and diet, and keep regular visits with their usual doctors, even if that clinician did not prescribe the GLP-1, so the rest of their care, including blood pressure, is maintained.
For prescribers: consider reviewing antihypertensive dosing and timing (including bedtime dosing) as weight drops. Coordinate changes with the patient’s usual clinician when someone else wrote the GLP-1 prescription.
Medical disclaimer. This page is educational and is intended for licensed health care professionals. It is not a clinical practice guideline and does not replace clinical judgment, product labeling, or specialty consultation. Information is current as of the “last reviewed” date.