154.1 - BOARD DEFINED -- OPTOMETRY -- DIAGNOSTICALLY CERTIFIED LICENSED OPTOMETRISTS -- THERAPEUTICALLY CERTIFIED OPTOMETRISTS.
154.1 BOARD DEFINED -- OPTOMETRY -- DIAGNOSTICALLY
CERTIFIED LICENSED OPTOMETRISTS -- THERAPEUTICALLY CERTIFIED
OPTOMETRISTS.
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 other than the use of drugs,
medicine, or surgery 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; and
persons engaged in the using or employing of visual training or
ocular exercise for the aid, relief, or correction of vision.
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. Diagnostically certified licensed optometrists may employ
cycloplegics, mydriatics, and topical anesthetics as diagnostic
agents topically applied to determine the condition of the human eye
for proper optometric practice or referral for treatment to a person
licensed under chapter 148. A diagnostically certified licensed
optometrist is an optometrist who is licensed to practice optometry
in this state and who is certified by the board to use diagnostic
agents.
4. Therapeutically certified optometrists 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. Therapeutically
certified optometrists may prescribe oral steroids for a period not
to exceed fourteen days without consultation with a physician.
Therapeutically certified optometrists shall not prescribe oral
Imuran or oral Methotrexate. Therapeutically certified optometrists
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. The board shall not be required to adopt rules relating
to topical pharmaceutical agents, oral antimicrobial agents, oral
antihistamines, oral antiglaucoma agents, and oral analgesic agents.
Superficial foreign bodies may be removed from the human eye and
adnexa. The therapeutic efforts of a therapeutically certified
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.
A therapeutically certified 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. Section History: Early Form
[S13, § 2583-g; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 2574; C46, 50, 54, 58,
62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, § 154.1] Section History: Recent Form
85 Acts, ch 248, § 1; 87 Acts, ch 119, § 1; 91 Acts, ch 9, §1;
2002 Acts, ch 1026, §1; 2007 Acts, ch 10, §142; 2007 Acts, ch 159,
§1; 2007 Acts, ch 215, §251; 2008 Acts, ch 1088, §106
Referred to in § 154.10