“As an ophthalmologist, I am proud to say that the citizens of Florida have the best eye care of any state in the country. This is undoubtedly due to the thousands of outstanding ophthalmologists and optometrists who have been working side by side and in cooperation with each other for decades. Unfortunately, that quality of eye care is in serious jeopardy.” So goes a Miami Herald post. “This year a trade group of well financed optometrists — who are not medical doctors — are rushing the Legislature to pass legislation (SB 278 and HB 239) that for the first time in this State’s history would allow optometrists to prescribe a vast arsenal of potentially dangerous oral medications with absolutely no patient safeguards. If passed, this legislation would be one of the most liberal prescribing laws in the country, and would have none of the patient safety measures that are in the laws in other states. Simply put, these bills would give the Board of Optometry unbridled power to authorize optometrists to prescribe any drug except Schedule I and II narcotics.” Read more.
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