In the week that the General Optical Council clarified the law on the sale and supply of contact lenses, internet suppliers are continuing to sell lenses without a valid prescription.
More than a year since the regulations were changed, Optician has conducted a follow-up to its first mystery shopper exercise earlier this year which found that some companies were not operating within the law and others were issuing inaccurate or inappropriate advice (Buyer beware, April 28).
In the follow-up survey, Optician made more than 60 calls to suppliers either based in the UK or with a UK mailing address, during September and October. In each case, the mystery shopper called the order line given on the website and asked whether lenses could be supplied based on prescription details read out from the lens box.
Although most of the companies contacted refused to sell the lenses without a valid specification or contacting the prescribing practitioner, some agreed to supply lenses. One internet supplier said that the lenses would either be mailed from the UK or direct from a major lens manufacturer overseas.
? The full results of the survey will be published in next week's Optician.