Essilor hit with online ban

Essilor Canada and its retail portal Clearly have been banned from ‘unlawfully dispensing’ prescription eyewear on the internet in Ontario after two of the country’s regulatory establishments, the College of Optometrists and the College of Opticians, successfully applied for an injunction.

The regulatory colleges filed for the injunction in December 2016 and the matter was heard in October 2017, with a verdict reached last week.

In a statement, the Colleges said: ‘We believe the internet can be an effective tool for the provision of vision care, however, the dispensing of corrective lenses is a controlled act, subject to Ontario legislation, that definitively requires a regulated health professional’s involvement. Mail order over the internet without the involvement of an optometrist or optician is inconsistent with legislation.’