§ 5-35.1-1 - Definitions.
SECTION 5-35.1-1
§ 5-35.1-1 Definitions. – As used in this chapter, the following terms are construed as follows:
(1) "Amplified optometrist" means an optometrist licensed inthis state to practice optometry and authorized by the board to administer andprescribe pharmaceutical agents in the treatment of conditions of the human eyeand its appendages, including anterior uveitis and glaucoma, without surgery orother invasive techniques, and in accordance with § 5-35.1-12 and all therequirements of this chapter.
(2) "Board" means the board of optometry established underthe provisions of § 5-35.1-15 of the act.
(3) "Certified optometrist" means an optometrist licensed inthis state to practice optometry and authorized by the board to administer andprescribe topical ocular pharmaceutical agents in the treatment of ocularconditions of the anterior segment of the human eye and its appendages (withthe exception of uveitis and glaucoma) without surgery or other invasivetechniques and in accordance with § 5-35.1-12 and all the requirements ofthis chapter.
(4) "Department" means the department of health.
(5) "Director" means the director of the department of health.
(6) "Optometrist" means a person licensed in this state topractice optometry pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(7) "Optometry" means the profession whose practitioners areengaged in the art and science of the evaluation of vision and the examinationof vision and the examination and refraction of the human eye which includes:the employment of any objective or subjective means for the examination of thehuman eye or its appendages; the measurement of the powers or range of humanvision or the determination of the accommodative and refractive powers of thehuman eye or the scope of its functions in general and the adaptation oflenses, prisms, and/or frames for the aid of these; the prescribing, directingthe use of or administering ocular exercises, visual training, vision training,or orthoptics, and the use of any optical device in connection with these; theprescribing of contact lenses for, or the fitting or adaptation of contactlenses to the human eye; the examination or diagnosis of the human eye toascertain the presence of abnormal conditions or functions; and the applicationof pharmaceutical agents to the eye, provided, that no optometrist licensed inthis state shall perform any surgery for the purpose of detecting any diseasedor pathological condition of the eye. With respect to presently licensedoptometrists, only presently licensed optometrists who:
(1) have satisfactorily completed a course in pharmacology,as it applies to optometry, at an institution accredited by a regional,professional, or academic accreditation organization which is recognized by thenational commission on accreditation, with particular emphasis on theapplication of drugs to the eye for the purposes of detecting any diseased orpathological condition of the eye; or the effects of any disease orpathological condition of the eye, approved by the board of examiners inoptometry and the department; or
(2) have successfully passed all sections of the NationalBoard of Examiners in Optometry (NBEO) examination; and
(ii) the treatment and management of ocular disease (TMOD)examination, shall be permitted to apply pharmaceutical agents to the eye forthe purpose of detecting any diseased or pathological condition of the eye, orthe effects of any disease or pathological condition of the eye.
(8) "Pharmaceutical agents" means any medications asdetermined by the department, except those specified in schedules I and II asprovided in chapter 21-28.