GOC will act on CL substitution

The General Optical Council is continuing to discuss the possibility of outlawing contact lens prescription substitution with the Department of Health.

A host of websites selling contact lenses online offer customers the option of substituting the lenses prescribed by their practitioners to another brand of contact lens.

Speaking at the February council meeting, Jon Levett, the director of standards, confirmed that action was planned to stop the practice. 'We are talking with the DoH about whether the law can be changed through a Section 60 order.'

However, he said legislation wouldn't arrive in the next round of legislative change. 'It wouldn't go through this time but might make it next.'