GOC to discuss mail-order rules

In August the committee produced a set of proposals that would replace the Contact Lens (Specification) Rules 1989 (optician, News, August 14). This included 'supervision', which takes place when a patient presents a 'current specification' for replacement lenses, rather than being triggered by a practitioner issuing a prescription in the presence of a patient. However, according to GOC registrar Richard Wilshin this week, the committee had 'virtually gone back to square one' with its proposals. This week's meeting, he said, would continue the consultation process, and it was uncertain, as optician went to press, whether it would be able to put forward recommendations to the full Council meeting next month. In May the GOC outlined its strategy after its success in the prosecution of Vision Direct, the former London-based mail-order group, now reportedly working from Jersey and the Netherlands. In its October Which? magazine the Consumer Association warned that mail-order lenses might involve a risk to health, and reported that firms selling contact lenses through the post were now working from overseas (see optician News, May 22 1998), out of the reach of UK law. At last weekend's Association of British Dispensing Opticians' agm fears were raised that future rules would not be strict enough (see page 5).