Section 154.1. Board defined — optometry — licensed optometrists.
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1. As used in this chapter, “board” means the board of optometry created under chapter 147.
2. For the purpose of this subtitle, the following classes of persons shall be deemed to be engaged in the practice of optometry:
a. Persons employing any means for the measurement of the visual power and visual efficiency of the human eye; persons engaged in the prescribing and adapting of lenses, prisms, and contact lenses; persons engaged in the using or employing of visual training or ocular exercise for the aid, relief, or correction of vision; and persons employing the use of medicines and procedures for the purposes of diagnosis and treatment of diseases or conditions of the eye and adnexa.
b. Persons who allow the public to use any mechanical device for a purpose described in paragraph “a”.
c. Persons who publicly profess to be optometrists and to assume the duties incident to the profession.
3. a. An optometrist licensed under this chapter may employ all diagnostic and therapeutic pharmaceutical agents for the purpose of diagnosis and treatment of conditions of the human eye and adnexa pursuant to this subsection, excluding the use of injections other than to counteract an anaphylactic reaction, and notwithstanding section 147.107, may without charge supply any of the above pharmaceuticals to commence a course of therapy. A licensed optometrist may perform minor surgical procedures and use medications for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions of the eye and adnexa. A license to practice optometry under this chapter does not authorize the performance of surgical procedures which require the use of injectable or general anesthesia, moderate sedation, penetration of the globe, or the use of ophthalmic lasers for the purpose of ophthalmic surgery within or upon the globe. The removal of pterygia and Salzmann’s nodules, incisional corneal refractive surgery, and strabismus surgery are prohibited.
b. A licensed optometrist may employ and, notwithstanding section 147.107, supply pharmaceutical-delivering contact lenses for the purpose of treatment of conditions of the human eye and adnexa. For purposes of this paragraph, “pharmaceutical-delivering contact lenses” means contact lenses that contain one or more therapeutic pharmaceutical agents authorized for employment by this section for the purpose of treatment of conditions of the human eye and adnexa and that deliver such agents into the wearer’s eye.
c. A licensed optometrist may prescribe oral steroids for a period not to exceed fourteen days without consultation with a physician.
d. A licensed optometrist may be authorized, where reasonable and appropriate, by rule of the board, to employ new diagnostic and therapeutic pharmaceutical agents approved by the United States food and drug administration on or after July 1, 2002, for the diagnosis and treatment of the human eye and adnexa.
e. The board is not required to adopt rules relating to topical pharmaceutical agents, oral antimicrobial agents, oral antihistamines, oral antiglaucoma agents, and oral analgesic agents. A licensed optometrist may remove superficial foreign bodies from the human eye and adnexa.
f. The therapeutic efforts of a licensed optometrist are intended for the purpose of examination, diagnosis, and treatment of visual defects, abnormal conditions, and diseases of the human eye and adnexa, for proper optometric practice or referral for consultation or treatment to persons licensed under chapter 148.
g. A licensed optometrist is an optometrist who is licensed to practice optometry in this state and who is certified by the board to use the agents and procedures authorized pursuant to this subsection.
4. Beginning July 1, 2012, all licensed optometrists shall meet requirements established by the board by rule to employ diagnostic and therapeutic pharmaceutical agents for the practice of optometry. All licensees practicing optometry in this state shall have demonstrated qualifications and obtained certification to use diagnostic and therapeutic pharmaceutical agents as a condition of license renewal.
[S13, §2583-g; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2574; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §154.1]