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2004 SESSION

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HB 856 Optometry; practice and licensure.

Introduced by: S. Chris Jones | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles | history

SUMMARY AS PASSED:

Practice of optometry. Revises the requirements for the practice and licensure of optometrists by requiring that, after June 30, 2004, every person initially licensed to practice optometry must meet the qualifications for a Therapeutic Pharmaceutical Agent (TPA)-certified optometrist, i.e., be trained to prescribed therapeutic pharmaceutical agents for treatment of diseases of the human eye and its adnexa. The bill expands the prescriptive authority of TPA-certified optometrists to include the prescribing and administering of Schedule III through VI controlled substances and devices to treat diseases of the human eye and its adnexa, within the scope of practice of optometry and as determined by the Board. Present law limits TPA-certified optometrists' prescriptive authority to Schedule III and Schedule VI. The Board of Optometry is required, pursuant to an enactment clause, to promulgate emergency regulations, i.e., within 280 days of the bill's enactment.

SUMMARY AS PASSED HOUSE:

Practice of optometry. Revises the requirements for the practice and licensure of optometrists by requiring, after June 30, 2004, every person initially licensed to practice optometry to meet the qualifications for a TPA-certified optometrist, and by expanding TPA-certified optometrists' prescriptive authority to include Schedule VI controlled substances for the purpose of examining and determining abnormal or diseased conditions of the human eye or related structures. The bill authorizes TPA-certified optometrists to prescribe and administer Schedule III through VI controlled substances and devices to treat diseases of the human eye and its adnexa as determined by the Board. This authority is expanded to include certain injectable Schedule VI drugs for the treatment of abnormal or diseased conditions of the adnexa and intramuscular administration of epinephrine for treatment of emergency cases of anaphylactic shock, but treatment of infantile or congenital glaucoma and the use of injectables for cosmetic purposes are prohibited. There is an emergency clause requiring the Board of Optometry to promulgate regulations within 280 days of enactment.

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Practice of optometry. Revises the requirements for the practice and licensure of optometrists by (i) requiring, after June 30, 2004, every person initially licensed to practice optometry to meet the qualifications for a TPA-certified optometrist; (ii) authorizing TPA-certified optometrists to prescribe and administer Schedule III through VI controlled substances and devices to treat diseases of the human eye and its adnexa as determined by the Board, (iii) removing the specific designations of diagnostic pharmaceutical agents that may be administered by optometrists so certified and authorizing the administration of Schedule VI controlled substances that are used for the purpose of examining and determining abnormal or diseased conditions of the human eye or related structures, and (iv) removing the restriction that TPA-certified optometrists be limited to prescribing oral analgesics included on Schedules III and VI to relieve ocular pain and topically applied Schedule VI drugs. This provision also strikes the requirement for a seven-member TPA-Formulary Committee as of July 1, 2006 (see enactment clauses 2 and 3). The Board of Optometry is required to promulgate emergency regulations to implement this provision.