Presidential Aspirant Rand Paul Led an Ophthalmologists' Rebellion in Kentucky

"The letters came from a young ophthalmologist in Kentucky. He was recruiting for an eye doctors’ rebellion," reports the Washington Post. "'We won’t be trod upon,' he wrote, using the language of 1776. 'You can’t promulgate injustice without consequences.' The injustice he was talking about was a new rule, from the powerful group that deems American ophthalmologists to be 'board-certified.' It required younger doctors to take a test that older doctors did not have to take. The Kentucky doctor was so outraged that he seceded — and started his own Board of Ophthalmology, so he could certify himself.

“'You can send a clear message to the establishment' by signing up to be certified by the new board, too, the letter said. 'Check the appropriate box and return the card with your $500. Sincerely, Rand Paul, M.D.' The letter, from about 2003, helps illuminate a little-understood (and mostly ridiculed) chapter of Paul’s life before politics: how he became a self-certified ophthalmologist." Read more.

The Post also noted in another article that this man of science and medicine "weighed in on the vaccination debate Monday by asserting that he believes most vaccines should be voluntary. "I'm not anti-vaccine at all but...most of them ought to be voluntary,' Paul told Laura Ingraham on her radio show Monday." His position is odd since individuals can opt not to have their children vaccinated as the current measles outbreak attests. Read more.

Kentucky Requires Eye Exams for School Children

“Parents will soon be busy making their back-to-school lists. School supplies and new clothes may be at the top of those lists, but an eye exam should be included as well,” according to WHAS11. “State law requires that children ages 3 through 6 who are entering a public school or preschool program for the first time have a vision exam.” Read more.

KY Prohibits Fee-Capping by Vision Plans

Kentucky has become the first state in the nation to prohibit vision care insurance plans from establishing the fees that vision care providers can charge for products or services that the plans do not cover under their benefit packages. Read more.

Vision Care Costs to Increase in KY?

"Sometimes, it’s not what’s in the bill that makes a bill bad, but the process it goes through that makes you think it isn’t quite what the founders intended," notes the Courier Journal. "For House Bill 497, it may very well be both. And you may end up paying more for your dental and vision insurance, or have more out-of-pocket expenses, because of it. The bill started out in the House as one that few could argue against. It provided consumer protections by, among other things, limiting when insurance companies could terminate policies." Read more.

OD May Have Violated MN Law

"A St. Paul man is upset because his optometrist refused to approve a recent request for contact lenses. The doctor’s excuse: The patient hadn’t been examined in 18 months, and his prescription was good for only one year." That's the start  of a post in the Star-Tribune. "Under state law, any contact lens prescriptions 'must expire two years after it is written, unless a different expiration date is warranted by the patient’s ocular health.' Under the law, doctors must provide reasons for providing anything less than a two-year prescription during the exam. Our reader said his doctor failed to explain the one-year prescription. Have you received a contact lens prescription good for less than two years?" Read more.

MDs Say Kentucky Law Puts Patients at Risk

According to a press release from the Kentucky Academy of Eye Physicians and Surgeons, the proposed regulations for a new state law which allows optometrists to perform a broad range of surgical procedures on the eye, fail to properly define the education, training and oversight necessary for this new scope of work that is typically performed by medical board-certified physicians. These supposed failures put Kentucky patients at risk. The Kentucky Board of Optometric Examiners held a public hearing to receive comments on the new regulations a few days ago. "On nearly every level, these regulations fail to ensure that Kentuckians will receive the highest standard of eye care," said Woody Van Meter, president, Kentucky Academy of Eye Physicians and Surgeons.Read more.

How Much Training Do ODs Need to Do What MDs Do?

"Doctors on Thursday debated the amount of training needed for optometrists to perform some minor eye surgeries allowed under legislation approved in February by the Kentucky General Assembly," according to a post on NKY.Cincinnati. "Senate Bill 110 raised eyebrows for the short time it took both chambers to pass the bill - 10 days - and the Kentucky Optometric Association's political action committee giving more than $400,000 in campaign contributions to lawmakers and the gubernatorial campaigns of Gov. Steve Beshear and Senate President David Williams in the past two years. The bill will allow optometrists to do some procedures previously reserved only for ophthalmologists. Kentucky becomes the second state to allow optometrists to perform these types of surgeries, behind Oklahoma." Read more.