Optometrist cleared at GOC hearing

A fitness to practise hearing ruled last month that optometrist Dr Jonathan Pointer was not guilty of misconduct in his treatment of a young patient on October 12 2009.

The patient, just short of her third birthday was, in the words of her mother 'squinting' while watching television and reading over the previous three months.

Dr Pointer undertook a number of tests as part of what turned out to be an incomplete eye examination, concluding that she was squinting out of habit and there was no problem with her eyes. He recommended she return in 12 months' time and the advice was repeated when the mother collected a copy of the examination record on October 20 for a second opinion.