Senate Bill 0142
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 142
By Senator Kirkpatrick
5-235-00 See HB
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to optometry; amending s.
3 463.002, F.S.; revising definitions; amending
4 s. 463.005, F.S.; requiring the Board of
5 Optometry in implementing ch. 463, F.S., the
6 Optometry Practice Act, to adopt rules relating
7 to scope and standards of practice; amending s.
8 463.0055, F.S.; authorizing administration and
9 prescription of pharmaceutical agents within
10 the scope and standards of optometric practice
11 as established by the board by rule and
12 providing requirements with respect thereto;
13 authorizing licensed practitioners to use
14 mydriatics and cycloplegics for diagnostic
15 purposes; revising duties of the pharmaceutical
16 agent formulary committee; eliminating
17 provisions relating to the effective date of
18 the formulary rule and to challenges by the
19 Secretary of Health to rules or proposed rules
20 of the board; amending ss. 463.0057, 463.006,
21 and 463.009, F.S., relating to optometric
22 faculty certificates, licensure and
23 certification by examination, and supportive
24 personnel, to conform; amending s. 463.014,
25 F.S.; eliminating a provision that prohibits a
26 licensed practitioner from prescribing,
27 ordering, dispensing, administering, supplying,
28 selling, or giving systemic drugs; providing an
29 effective date.
30
31 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 142
5-235-00 See HB
1 Section 1. Subsections (3), (4), and (5) of section
2 463.002, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
3 463.002 Definitions.--As used in this chapter, the
4 term:
5 (3)(a) "Licensed practitioner" means a person who is a
6 primary health care provider licensed to engage in the
7 practice of optometry under the authority of this chapter.
8 (b) A licensed practitioner who is not a certified
9 optometrist shall be required to display at her or his place
10 of practice a sign which states, "I am a Licensed
11 Practitioner, not a Certified Optometrist, and I am not able
12 to prescribe topical ocular pharmaceutical agents."
13 (c) All practitioners initially licensed after July 1,
14 1993, must be certified optometrists.
15 (4) "Certified optometrist" means a licensed
16 practitioner authorized by the board to administer and
17 prescribe topical ocular pharmaceutical agents.
18 (5) "Optometry" means the diagnosis of conditions of
19 the human eye and its appendages; the employment of any
20 objective or subjective means or methods, including the
21 administration of topical ocular pharmaceutical agents, for
22 the purpose of determining the refractive powers of the human
23 eyes, or any visual, muscular, neurological, or anatomic
24 anomalies of the human eyes and their appendages; and the
25 prescribing and employment of lenses, prisms, frames,
26 mountings, contact lenses, orthoptic exercises, light
27 frequencies, and any other means or methods, including topical
28 ocular pharmaceutical agents, for the correction, remedy, or
29 relief of any insufficiencies or abnormal conditions of the
30 human eyes and their appendages.
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 142
5-235-00 See HB
1 Section 2. Paragraphs (a) and (g) of subsection (1) of
2 section 463.005, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
3 463.005 Authority of the board.--
4 (1) The Board of Optometry has authority to adopt
5 rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement the
6 provisions of this chapter conferring duties upon it. Such
7 rules shall include, but not be limited to, rules relating to:
8 (a) Scope and standards of practice, including, but
9 not limited to, those provided for in s. 463.0135.
10 (g) Administration and prescription of topical ocular
11 pharmaceutical agents.
12 Section 3. Section 463.0055, Florida Statutes, is
13 amended to read:
14 463.0055 Administration and prescription of topical
15 ocular pharmaceutical agents; committee.--
16 (1) Certified optometrists may administer and
17 prescribe topical ocular pharmaceutical agents as provided in
18 this section for the diagnosis and treatment of ocular
19 conditions of the human eye and its appendages without the use
20 of surgery or other invasive techniques. However, a licensed
21 practitioner who is not certified may use topically applied
22 anesthetics, mydriatics, and cycloplegics solely for
23 diagnostic purposes the purpose of glaucoma examinations, but
24 is otherwise prohibited from administering or prescribing
25 topical ocular pharmaceutical agents.
26 (2)(a) There is hereby created a committee composed of
27 two optometrists licensed pursuant to this chapter, appointed
28 by the Board of Optometry, two board-certified
29 ophthalmologists licensed pursuant to chapter 458 or chapter
30 459, appointed by the Board of Medicine, and one additional
31 person with a doctorate degree in pharmacology who is not
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 142
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1 licensed pursuant to chapter 458, chapter 459, or this
2 chapter, appointed by the secretary. The committee members
3 shall review requests for additions to, deletions from, or
4 modifications of a formulary of topical ocular pharmaceutical
5 agents for administration and prescription by certified
6 optometrists and may, as the committee deems appropriate,
7 shall provide to the board advisory opinions and
8 recommendations on such requests. The formulary shall consist
9 of those topical ocular pharmaceutical agents which the
10 certified optometrist is qualified to use in the practice of
11 optometry. The board shall establish, add to, delete from, or
12 modify the formulary by rule. Notwithstanding any provision
13 of chapter 120 to the contrary, the formulary rule shall
14 become effective 60 days from the date it is filed with the
15 Secretary of State.
16 (b) The formulary may be added to, deleted from, or
17 modified according to the procedure described in paragraph
18 (a). Any person who requests an addition, deletion, or
19 modification of an authorized topical ocular pharmaceutical
20 agent shall have the burden of proof to show cause why such
21 addition, deletion, or modification should be made.
22 (c) The secretary of the department shall have
23 standing to challenge any rule or proposed rule of the board
24 pursuant to s. 120.56. In addition to challenges for any
25 invalid exercise of delegated legislative authority, the
26 administrative law judge, upon such a challenge by the
27 secretary, may declare all or part of a rule or proposed rule
28 invalid if it:
29 1. Does not protect the public from any significant
30 and discernible harm or damages;
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1 2. Unreasonably restricts competition or the
2 availability of professional services in the state or in a
3 significant part of the state; or
4 3. Unnecessarily increases the cost of professional
5 services without a corresponding or equivalent public benefit.
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7 However, there shall not be created a presumption of the
8 existence of any of the conditions cited in this subsection in
9 the event that the rule or proposed rule is challenged.
10 (c)(d) Upon adoption of the formulary required by this
11 section, and upon each addition, deletion, or modification to
12 the formulary, the board shall mail a copy of the amended
13 formulary to each certified optometrist and to each pharmacy
14 licensed by the state.
15 (3) A certified optometrist shall be issued a
16 prescriber number by the board. Any prescription written by a
17 certified optometrist for a topical ocular pharmaceutical
18 agent pursuant to this section shall have the prescriber
19 number printed thereon.
20 Section 4. Subsection (3) of section 463.0057, Florida
21 Statutes, is amended to read:
22 463.0057 Optometric faculty certificate.--
23 (3) The holder of a faculty certificate may engage in
24 the practice of optometry as permitted by this section, but
25 may not administer or prescribe topical ocular pharmaceutical
26 agents unless the certificateholder has satisfied the
27 requirements of s. 463.006(1)(b)4. and 5.
28 Section 5. Subsections (2) and (3) of section 463.006,
29 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
30 463.006 Licensure and certification by examination.--
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 142
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1 (2) The examination shall consist of the appropriate
2 subjects, including applicable state laws and rules and
3 general and ocular pharmacology with emphasis on the topical
4 application and side effects of ocular pharmaceutical agents.
5 The board may by rule substitute a national examination as
6 part or all of the examination and may by rule offer a
7 practical examination in addition to the written examination.
8 (3) Each applicant who successfully passes the
9 examination and otherwise meets the requirements of this
10 chapter is entitled to be licensed as a practitioner and to be
11 certified to administer and prescribe topical ocular
12 pharmaceutical agents in the diagnosis and treatment of ocular
13 conditions.
14 Section 6. Section 463.009, Florida Statutes, is
15 amended to read:
16 463.009 Supportive personnel.--No person other than a
17 licensed practitioner may engage in the practice of optometry
18 as defined in s. 463.002(5). Except as provided in this
19 section, under no circumstances shall nonlicensed supportive
20 personnel be delegated diagnosis or treatment duties; however,
21 such personnel may perform data gathering, preliminary
22 testing, prescribed visual therapy, and related duties under
23 the direct supervision of the licensed practitioner.
24 Nonlicensed personnel, who need not be employees of the
25 licensed practitioner, may perform ministerial duties, tasks,
26 and functions assigned to them by and performed under the
27 general supervision of a licensed practitioner, including
28 obtaining information from consumers for the purpose of making
29 appointments for the licensed practitioner. The licensed
30 practitioner shall be responsible for all delegated acts
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1 performed by persons under her or his direct and general
2 supervision.
3 Section 7. Section 463.014, Florida Statutes, is
4 amended to read:
5 463.014 Certain acts prohibited.--
6 (1)(a) No corporation, lay body, organization, or
7 individual other than a licensed practitioner shall engage in
8 the practice of optometry through the means of engaging the
9 services, upon a salary, commission, or other means or
10 inducement, of any person licensed to practice optometry in
11 this state. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to
12 prohibit the association of a licensed practitioner with a
13 multidisciplinary group of licensed health care professionals,
14 the primary objective of which is the diagnosis and treatment
15 of the human body.
16 (b) No licensed practitioner shall engage in the
17 practice of optometry with any corporation, organization,
18 group, or lay individual. This provision shall not prohibit
19 licensed practitioners from employing, or from forming
20 partnerships or professional associations with, licensed
21 practitioners licensed in this state or with other licensed
22 health care professionals, the primary objective of whom is
23 the diagnosis and treatment of the human body.
24 (c) No rule of the board shall forbid the practice of
25 optometry in or on the premises of a commercial or mercantile
26 establishment.
27 (d) No licensed practitioner may practice under
28 practice identification names, trade names, or service names,
29 unless any dissemination of information by the practitioner to
30 consumers contains the name under which the practitioner is
31 licensed or that of the professional association in which the
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 142
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1 practitioner participates. Any advertisement or other
2 dissemination of information to consumers may contain factual
3 information as to the geographic location of licensed
4 practitioners or of the availability of optometric services.
5 (e) No licensed practitioner shall adopt and publish
6 or cause to be published any practice identification name,
7 trade name, or service name which is, contains, or is intended
8 to serve as an affirmation of the quality or competitive value
9 of the optometric services provided at the identified
10 practice.
11 (2) A corporation or labor organization may employ
12 licensed practitioners to provide optometric services to bona
13 fide employees of such corporation and members of their
14 immediate families or to bona fide members of such labor
15 organization and members of their immediate families, provided
16 the provision of such services is incidental to the legitimate
17 business of such corporation or labor organization. Nothing in
18 this section shall be deemed to authorize the employment of
19 licensed practitioners by corporations or organizations formed
20 primarily for such purposes.
21 (3) Prescribing, ordering, dispensing, administering,
22 supplying, selling, or giving any systemic drugs by a licensed
23 practitioner is prohibited.
24 (3)(4) Surgery of any kind, including the use of
25 lasers, is expressly prohibited. Certified optometrists may
26 remove superficial foreign bodies. For the purposes of this
27 subsection, the term "superficial foreign bodies" means any
28 foreign matter that is embedded in the conjunctiva or cornea
29 but which has not penetrated the globe.
30 (4)(5) No rule of the board shall prohibit a licensed
31 practitioner from authorizing a board-certified optician to
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 142
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1 fill, fit, adapt, or dispense a contact lens prescription as
2 authorized under chapter 484.
3 Section 8. This act shall take effect October 1, 2000.
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6 HOUSE SUMMARY
7
Requires the Board of Optometry in implementing ch. 463,
8 F.S., the Optometry Practice Act, to adopt rules relating
to scope and standards of practice. Authorizes
9 administration and prescription of pharmaceutical agents
within the scope and standards of optometric practice as
10 established by the board by rule and provides
requirements with respect thereto. Authorizes licensed
11 practitioners to use mydriatics and cycloplegics for
diagnostic purposes. Revises duties of the pharmaceutical
12 agent formulary committee. Eliminates provisions relating
to the effective date of the formulary rule and to
13 challenges by the Secretary of Health to rules or
proposed rules of the board. Amends various provisions of
14 law to conform. See bill for details.
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