By Madla S.B. No. 390
76R1812 SMH-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of the practice of therapeutic
1-3 optometry.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 1.03(b) and (d)-(g), Texas Optometry Act
1-6 (Article 4552-1.03, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are amended to
1-7 read as follows:
1-8 (b) A therapeutic optometrist may administer and prescribe
1-9 any appropriate medication, device, or nonsurgical procedure
1-10 [ophthalmic devices, over-the-counter oral medications, and
1-11 topical ocular pharmaceutical agents, other than antiviral agents
1-12 and antiglaucoma agents,] for the purpose of diagnosing and
1-13 treating visual defects, abnormal conditions, and diseases of the
1-14 human vision system, including the eye and adnexa, and may remove
1-15 superficial foreign matter and eyelashes from the external eye or
1-16 adnexa. [If a therapeutic optometrist utilizes topical steroids of
1-17 a strength of one percent concentration to treat a condition and
1-18 the condition has not substantially improved within seven days of
1-19 the initial topical steroid application, the therapeutic
1-20 optometrist shall consult with an ophthalmologist and the
1-21 ophthalmologist shall then establish the treatment regimen. If a
1-22 therapeutic optometrist utilizes topical steroids of a strength of
1-23 less than one percent concentration to treat a condition and the
1-24 condition has not substantially improved within 14 days of the
2-1 initial topical steroid application, the therapeutic optometrist
2-2 shall consult with an ophthalmologist and the ophthalmologist shall
2-3 then establish the treatment regimen. This subsection does not
2-4 authorize an optometrist to treat glaucoma in a manner that was not
2-5 permitted by law on August 31, 1991.]
2-6 (d) A therapeutic optometrist may not administer or
2-7 prescribe oral or parenteral medications or treat glaucoma without
2-8 holding a certificate issued by the board. To obtain a
2-9 certificate, a therapeutic optometrist must:
2-10 (1) complete 24 hours of instruction in a clinical
2-11 review course approved by the board on pharmacology and the
2-12 treatment, management, and timely referral for surgical
2-13 intervention of glaucoma; and
2-14 (2) pass an examination approved by the board covering
2-15 those subjects.
2-16 (e) The board shall adopt rules setting forth the specific
2-17 classifications of pharmaceutical agents therapeutic optometrists
2-18 may use in the practice of therapeutic optometry. Use by a
2-19 therapeutic optometrist of pharmaceutical agents not authorized by
2-20 the board or otherwise authorized by law shall constitute a
2-21 violation of this Act. The board by rule shall specify the
2-22 professional designation of a therapeutic optometrist certified
2-23 under Subsection (d) of this section.
2-24 [(e) A five-member technical advisory committee is created
2-25 to assist the board in determining the specific pharmaceutical
2-26 agents which may be used in the practice of therapeutic optometry.
2-27 Appointments to the committee shall be for two-year terms, and no
3-1 member may serve more than two consecutive terms.]
3-2 [(f) The members of the technical advisory committee shall
3-3 be appointed as follows: one must be an optometrist or therapeutic
3-4 optometrist licensed and practicing in this state, appointed by the
3-5 Texas Optometry Board; one must be a physician licensed and
3-6 practicing in this state whose practice is limited to
3-7 ophthalmology, appointed by the Texas State Board of Medical
3-8 Examiners; one must be a pharmacist licensed and practicing
3-9 pharmacy in this state, appointed by the Texas State Board of
3-10 Pharmacy; one must be a faculty member at a state medical
3-11 institution of higher education with expertise in pharmacology,
3-12 appointed by the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners; and one
3-13 must be a faculty member of a college of optometry at a state
3-14 institution of higher education, appointed by the Texas Optometry
3-15 Board.]
3-16 (f) [(g)] A therapeutic optometrist is subject to the same
3-17 standard of professional care and judgment as a person practicing
3-18 as an ophthalmologist under the Medical Practice Act (Article
3-19 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
3-20 SECTION 2. Section 1.02, Texas Optometry Act (Article
3-21 4552-1.02, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding
3-22 Subdivision (11) to read as follows:
3-23 (11) "Surgery" or "surgical procedure" means a cutting
3-24 operation.
3-25 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-26 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-27 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-3 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-4 passage, and it is so enacted.