How to take the fight to the rogue online contact lens sellers

The internet has taken the world by storm, created instant millionaires and destroyed other forms of business, for the simple reason that it is totally uncontrolled. Rogue sites associated with our profession are ‘land grabbing’ business from the real world of practitioners at discounted prices that we cannot compete against. Plus the online sites supply lenses without up-to-date prescription details or compliance. It is a fact that compliance online is down to 60 per cent per year. In the US it has been calculated that earnings per practitioner have been reduced by $22,000 per year.

It is commendable that non-profit organisations such as the General Optical Council (GOC) and the British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) are spending their time, money and effort to bring about more regulation and compliance on the internet for contact lens wearers’ health and safety. However, there is little co-operation from those involved in the internet industry. I have been informed that it would be illegal to interfere in the retail market of contact lens sales; in other words, it is wrong to interfere in the health and safety of the patient, which is what the GOC and BCLA are only interested in.