THE OPTICIAN’S BILL

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 256, 13 July 1926, Page 12

THE OPTICIAN’S BILL

Sir,—l noticed in a recent issue of your journal that a Bill termed the Opticians’ Bill is shortly to be brought before the House. I would like, through your columns, to inquire what qualifications are possessed by those seeking to introduce this Bill. Are they competent to examine others who are seeking to enter the "profession”? Is it not possible that a man may have been posing as an eyesight specialist for a number of years and yet have very little knowledge of refraction? Many of our selfstyled “optical specialists” have mysterious letters after their names—“M.T.O.C.,” "M.G.0.A.,” etc. These letters usually denote that they are graduates of various Yankee correspond, enee optical schools, at some of which you can obtain the degree "doctor of optics,” and a large diploma with numerous gold seals attached for a fewdollars. One wonders what such a diploma is worth. If tho object of this Optical Bill is to protect the public from quacks, why not make it illegal for any but qualified medical practitioners to examine the eyes, or prescribe glasses? Many medical men have specialised in optical work, and I know from experience that their fees are less than those charged by the unqualified spectacle sellers or self-styled, “specialists,” who are now endeavouring to secure a legal status, to which they have no claim.—l am, etc., „„„ ANTI-HUMBUG. July 5.