This week, your roving clinical editor is reporting from across the pond.
It is always good to catch up with colleagues in the US, especially so now that the UK optometry profession is making advances in line with some of the more progressive, optometry-led individual states, while leaving the more ophthalmologist-centred states behind.
Arriving in Boston, I went out for a much-needed stroll and some fresh air. I was soon caught up in a passionate, yet peaceful, demonstration outside a fashion shop, one owned by a global brand that still supports the fur trade in Europe. I, rather naively as it happens, had thought that killing animals for fur was a thing of the past. It turns out that the French fashion giant LVMH (Louis Vuitton, Moët, and Hennessy) own companies that still support the fur trade and sell fur products in Europe. Further investigation revealed a connection to optics in that LVMH own Thélios, a large group that designs, produces, and distributes sunglasses and optical frames for high-end fashion brands, including, somewhat ironically, Stella McCartney.
Any worries of arrest were tempered by the memory of a story about the musician Vivian Stanshall, when on tour in the US. Upon being stopped by a traffic cop, probably due to his eccentric hair, beard and clothes, Stanshall was first asked for his ID and then whether he was carrying a firearm. ‘Certainly not,’ he replied in his best, velvety clipped English accent. ‘Then, how do you propose to defend yourself in Chicago?’ asked the cop. ‘With good manners, sir,’ came the reply.
- Do you have an idea for a clinical feature? Email the clinical editor bill.harvey@markallengroup.com.
- For details of how to submit a case study and earn an interactive CPD point for each of the domains, go to the CPD area of opticianonline.net.