Senate Bill No. 524
(By Senators Bailey, Chafin and Deem)
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[Introduced March 24, 1997; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization.]
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A BILL to amend article eight, chapter thirty of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
by adding thereto a new section, designated section two-a,
relating to expanding the prescriptive authority for
optometrists; formulary of drugs to be prescribed;
eligibility and certification for prescriptive authority;
fees and administration; and proposal of legislative rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article eight, chapter thirty of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section two- a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. OPTOMETRISTS.
§30-8-2a. Expanded prescriptive authority.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section two of this article, the board of optometry shall propose rules for
legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article
three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, defining a
certification process and drug formulary which is authorized by
this section, except that no emergency rules may be proposed.
The rules shall provide a formulary classifying those categories
of oral drugs rational to the diagnosis and treatment of
conditions or diseases of the human eye and its appendages, which
may be prescribed by optometrists from Schedules III, IV and V of
the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, article two, chapter
sixty-a of this code. The board shall consult with other
appropriate boards, including the board of pharmacy, in the
development of the formulary. The rules shall further provide
for individual certification of optometrists for this expanded
scope of prescriptive authority. The rules shall provide
standards for education and training determined by the board to
be conditions precedent to individual certification authorizing
an optometrist to prescribe drugs excluded pursuant to the
provisions of section two of this article and included in a drug
formulary to be adopted by the board; procedures for
certification by the board of education and training courses;
procedure standards for certification and recertification of
individual optometrists for an expanded scope of practice
prescriptive authority, which shall include a continuing education requirement; administrative fees necessary for the
certification and recertification; procedures and standards for
certification and training courses; procedures and standards for
determining successful completion of education and training; and
standards to ensure adequate insurance coverage, as well as
compliance with the provisions of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to expand the scope of
prescriptive authority for optometrists. The Board of Optometry
is authorized to adopt rules establishing an enhanced
prescription drug formulary which will allow optometrists to
prescribe drugs from Schedules III, IV and V of the Uniform
Controlled Substance Act. The Board of Optometry is directed to
propose rules governing education and training standards for
certification for this enhanced prescriptive authority.
Section two-a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.