La dualidad jurídica en la prestación de servicios de salud visual en Colombia: entre la lex artis optométrica y el estatuto del consumidor

Abstract

The objective of this research is to analyze the legal duality in the provision of visual health services in Colombia, evaluating the tension between the optometric lex artis and the Consumer Statute given the fragmentation of the clinical act between health insurance companies (EPS) and private optical shops. The methodology implemented consisted of a documentary analysis with systematic hermeneutic and teleological approaches, gathering doctrine, legislation, and specialized jurisprudence in databases such as Google Scholar and university libraries through information triangulation. The results show that classifying progressive lenses as medical devices activates a dual liability regime, where objective liability for defects (design, manufacturing, and information) and professional subjective liability coexist. Furthermore, it is evident that private optical shops unfairly assume financial losses due to external diagnostic errors because of the statutory joint liability. The main contribution of this article consists of structuring a robust legal proposal to redefine the causal link of the optometrist's civil liability, limiting their obligations exclusively to the technical parameters of mounting and material quality, exonerating them from external diagnostic failures through the proper accreditation of the act of a third party and strict compliance with the duty to inform.