Internet company eBay UK entered ten pleas of not guilty today in response to charges that it aided and abetted the illegal sale of contact lenses on its auction web site.
A pre-trial hearing at the City of London Magistrates Court scheduled a three-day hearing to begin on March 6, 2006.
eBay could be fined up to £32,500 for allowing its site to be used to sell contact lenses without the supervision of a registered medical practitioner or registered optician.
The online sales on ebay.co.uk took place between March 21 and July 24.
One example charge related to the supply by eBay member ‘Shaunnicki’ of 90 1-Day Acuvue lenses to another member, ‘Scoffs’.
Mark Leale, for the General Optical Council, told OPTICIAN that all ten charges were for the illegal supply of prescription contact lenses and that none related to the supply of plano cosmetic lenses.