CONTACT lens wearers can safely buy daily disposable lenses at a fraction of the average market rate, after the industry regulator admitted there was "no evidence" that substituting cheaper brands posed a danger to health.
The u-turn has been hailed by the founder of low-cost Scottish supplier, Daysoft, who had previously accused the the General Optical Council (GOC) of "conducting a witchhunt" and "confusing protecting the public with protecting opticians".
The company attracted the ire of industry heavyweights when it began selling cheaper disposable lenses over the internet in 2006 to customers in the UK and worldwide.
Major contact lens manufacturers and high-street retailers have lobbied the GOC to impose restrictions against the substituting of brand name contact lenses for Daysoft lenses on the grounds that they allegedly posed a risk to public health, including an increased danger from eye infections.
However, the GOC has now backed down and conceded that it would be unlawful to discriminate against the Blantyre firm.
A statement posted on the GOC website said: "Following its public consultation on the draft code, [the Council decided] it would not be appropriate, based on the currently available evidence, to include within the code the proposed provisions relating to substitution of contact lenses.
"The GOC appreciates that some stakeholders feel strongly about this issue and the potential for public harm. However, there is not currently any evidence of patients suffering direct harm as a result of substitution."
Daysoft founder, Ron Hamilton, who invented the first soft disposable contact lense, alleged in 2012 that some Specsavers opticians were making "highly derogatory statements" to customers about Daysoft lenses. In some cases, he said staff were refusing to conduct eye tests for Daysoft users unless they committed to buying brand-name contact lenses instead.
Specsavers denied the claims.
A set of 32 Daysoft lenses costs £5.99 compared to upwards of £15.99 for the "Big Four" brands - Alcon, Bausch & Lomb, CooperVision and Johnson & Johnson.
Mr Hamilton said: “I am delighted at this late change of heart by the GOC, after all, we have been operating www.daysoft.com successfully for 10 years.
"However, by far the most significant fact is that 1.6 million contact UK lens wearers are still being prescribed extended wear or re-usable contact lenses by their opticians because their daily-disposables are ‘unaffordable’ by comparison and despite the fact that reusable carry 12 time the risk of eye-infection compared to daily-disposables which are regarded as being intrinsically-safe. "That is why Daysoft only supplies daily-disposables."
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