The UK's General Optical Council announced this week that it was dropping a case against online auction website eBay over the illegal sale of contact lenses by eBay users.
At a hearing at the City of London Magistrate’s Court on Monday, the GOC offered no evidence in support of the 10 summonses issued against E-Bay last August under Section 27(1) of the Opticians Act 1989.
The GOC brought the prosecution in the belief that eBay should actively monitor its website and de-list contact lenses that were being offered for sale unlawfully. In the United Kingdom, the sale of such items is prohibited except by an optician or a doctor.
However, the Council was advised that under European law, eBay cannot be required to actively monitor its listings.
Peter Coe, GOC registrar explained that:
“The Council took action on this issue because of the dangers to consumers buying and wearing contact lenses which have not been fitted by a qualified professional. We recognise that eBay has put in place listing policies addressing these issues and appears to be ensuring that unlawful auctions of contact lenses are removed from the website. Hopefully the public is also now more aware of the risks of buying and wearing contact lenses from unregulated sellers."
“However, this case has highlighted a loophole in laws designed for public protection. We feel that it is an unreasonable burden for a regulator, with limited resources, to have to monitor the millions of listings on auction websites. In effect, we would have to notify the website of each individual instance of an illegal sale in order for it to be de-listed.”
The GOC is the regulator for the optical professions in the UK, and currently has around 22,000 optometrists, dispensing opticians, student opticians and optical businesses on its register.
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