...and studies Net supply legal options

He said the GOC, which this month brought a successful prosecution against similar UK-based company Vision Direct, was concerned about the launch. Mr Wilshin described the sale of mail-order contact lenses from overseas as 'clearly not in the public interest' and hinted that the GOC might have some recourse to legal action, although he declined to specify what form that action would take. 'We will try to have the law enforced where necessary,' he said. The prospect of US mail-order firms entering the market is of particular concern to the GOC because unlike those based in countries in the European Union, they would not necessarily have to sell products which conformed to the standards of the European Medical Devices Directive. Mr Wilshin said he had raised the matter with the Department of Health and found its response disappointing. Contact Lens Depot offers savings of up to 70 per cent on Bausch & Lomb, Ciba Vision, Vistakon and Wesley Jessen PBH brands through the Internet and a freephone routed to the company's Virginia HQ. Contact Lens Depot president Bill Odom has said the prosecution of Vision Direct had not discouraged his interest in the UK market. 'UK officials do not have any jurisdiction over me, and it would be impossible to serve a ruling as I am in Virginia,' he told optician last week. 'When I send lenses through the post they go direct to the customer.' A spokesman for the DoH claimed that the scope for Vision Direct-style legal action was limited if the lenses went directly to the customer, rather than through the hands of a UK distributor. 'You can't have a prosecution without having somebody to prosecute,' he said. 'It's going to be very difficult for us to stop people selling over the Internet. If you can't stop pornography on the Internet what chance have you got with contact lenses.'