Therapeutics update

Professor John Lawrenson describes how recent changes to the Medicines Act and Opticians Act will affect optometrists in practice

Recent amendments to the Opticians Act together with changes in medicines legislation will allow optometrists to take on a greater responsibility for the management of ocular disease.

The other significant development is the reclassification of chloramphenicol eye drops from prescription-only medicine (POM) to pharmacy-only (P) for the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis.

Chloramphenicol is the first antibiotic to be reclassified in this way, ironically at a time when there are mounting public health concerns over increased microbial resistance. However, the introduction of over the counter (OTC) chloramphenicol is consistent with the wider department of health (DoH) policy outlined in the NHS Plan to widen access to medicines and increase patient choice.