P or POM

A number of people at various meetings (especially on the continent or Ireland) are expressing concerns about the categorisation of ophthalmic drugs and staining agents. Fluiorets are classified as P medicines in the UK, POM in Ireland. This means that they may be obtained by an optometrist and used in the course of there working practice. Legally a P medicine can be supplied to the patient by an optometrist if warranted, the 'emergency only' clause being removed in 1995. This is unlikely to be a concern for fluorescein. However, what about the CLO using fluorescein? I guess as long as there is an optom in the building the buck stops there - but what about the CLO working alone? The law here seems a little vague. Add to that the fact that lissamine green (increasingly widely used now in the UK) has not legal classification. I think it is high time we had some clarification as to exactly what the law relating to ophthalmic drugs means.