How refreshing it was to see a contact lens retailer being held to account for breaking the law. It’s just a shame the retailer was in the US. Maybe one day we’ll have a way of taking meaningful action against the retailers that sell illegally in the UK, but are able to hide behind overseas operations.
The allegations made against Hubble Contact lenses in the US will sound familiar to many practitioners – lack of prescription and age verification and substitution for its own products. In this particular case, the extent of the failures was alarming. Hubble failed to ask patients for copies of their contact lens prescriptions, and would not typically allow customers to upload, email, or otherwise provide their prescriptions – even when consumers offered to do so. This, said the Federal Trade Commission, ensured Hubble could not receive customers’ prescriptions, and thus could act as though it was unaware that these consumers had prescriptions for non-Hubble lenses.
The General Optical Council launched a consultation on illegal practice late last year, but it isn’t the first time the regulator has looked at online retail and its legality. In 2014, a consultation looked at the same subject, and included much of the same messaging. Concepts such as working alongside engaging suppliers and even the suggestion of a voluntary code that would appeal to patients looking to companies that follow good practice.
Online contact lens sales has been a problem for more than a decade, and it has been on the GOC’s radar for nearly as long. But what has changed during that time? When it comes to regulation, not much. Consumers of most ages can still order contacts without certification of valid prescription.
While the legal aspects of contact lens retail have remained inert, the way patients use the internet for their eye health solutions has evolved significantly. There are large parts of the population for whom online is the first port of call. I fear the genie of contact lens retail regulation may be one that the GOC can’t put back in the bottle.