View from the GOC: Tackling illegal practice

Illegal practice in the optical sector, such as unregistered sales of contact lenses, puts patients at risk. When contact lens wearers do not get the right professional advice they may adopt risky habits, such as showering in their lenses or putting them in after make-up.

Tackling illegal practice is not a statutory function of the GOC (ie what Parliament requires us to do). We do see it as part of our wider remit to protect the public but it is important to understand what our powers do and do not allow us to do.

The internet represents a particular challenge because the UK’s laws on contact lens supply are among the strictest in the world. Most websites selling to the UK that do not comply with UK law are generally based in other countries with looser regulation, even if they have a .co.uk domain name.