Bill Text: FL S0788 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Eye Health Care

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2012-03-09 - Died in Health Regulation [S0788 Detail]

Download: Florida-2012-S0788-Introduced.html
       Florida Senate - 2012                                     SB 788
       
       
       
       By Senator Bennett
       
       
       
       
       21-00758-12                                            2012788__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to eye health care; amending s.
    3         463.002, F.S.; conforming provisions to changes made
    4         by the act; amending s. 463.005, F.S.; authorizing the
    5         Board of Optometry to adopt rules for the
    6         administration and prescription of ocular
    7         pharmaceutical agents; amending s. 463.0055, F.S.;
    8         authorizing certified optometrists to administer and
    9         prescribe ocular pharmaceutical agents under certain
   10         circumstances; revising qualifications of certain
   11         members of the formulary committee; amending ss.
   12         463.0057 and 463.006, F.S.; conforming provisions to
   13         changes made by the act; amending s. 483.035, F.S.,
   14         relating to licensure and regulation of clinical
   15         laboratories operated by practitioners for exclusive
   16         use; providing applicability to clinical laboratories
   17         operated by practitioners licensed to practice
   18         optometry; amending s. 483.041, F.S.; revising the
   19         definition of “licensed practitioner” to include a
   20         practitioner licensed under ch. 463, F.S.; amending s.
   21         483.181, F.S.; requiring clinical laboratories to
   22         accept human specimens submitted by practitioners
   23         licensed to practice under ch. 463, F.S.; amending s.
   24         893.02, F.S.; revising the definition of
   25         “practitioner” to include certified optometrists for
   26         purposes of the Florida Comprehensive Drug Abuse
   27         Prevention and Control Act; amending s. 893.05, F.S.;
   28         prohibiting certified optometrists from administering
   29         and prescribing certain controlled substances;
   30         providing an effective date.
   31  
   32  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   33  
   34         Section 1. Subsections (3), (4), and (5) of section
   35  463.002, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   36         463.002 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term:
   37         (3)(a) “Licensed practitioner” means a person who is a
   38  primary health care provider licensed to engage in the practice
   39  of optometry under the authority of this chapter.
   40         (b) A licensed practitioner who is not a certified
   41  optometrist shall be required to display at her or his place of
   42  practice a sign which states, “I am a Licensed Practitioner, not
   43  a Certified Optometrist, and I am not able to prescribe topical
   44  ocular pharmaceutical agents.”
   45         (c) All practitioners initially licensed after July 1,
   46  1993, must be certified optometrists.
   47         (4) “Certified optometrist” means a licensed practitioner
   48  authorized by the board to administer and prescribe topical
   49  ocular pharmaceutical agents.
   50         (5) “Optometry” means the diagnosis of conditions of the
   51  human eye and its appendages; the employment of any objective or
   52  subjective means or methods, including the administration of
   53  topical ocular pharmaceutical agents, for the purpose of
   54  determining the refractive powers of the human eyes, or any
   55  visual, muscular, neurological, or anatomic anomalies of the
   56  human eyes and their appendages; and the prescribing and
   57  employment of lenses, prisms, frames, mountings, contact lenses,
   58  orthoptic exercises, light frequencies, and any other means or
   59  methods, including topical ocular pharmaceutical agents, for the
   60  correction, remedy, or relief of any insufficiencies or abnormal
   61  conditions of the human eyes and their appendages.
   62         Section 2. Paragraph (g) of subsection (1) of section
   63  463.005, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   64         463.005 Authority of the board.—
   65         (1) The Board of Optometry has authority to adopt rules
   66  pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement the
   67  provisions of this chapter conferring duties upon it. Such rules
   68  shall include, but not be limited to, rules relating to:
   69         (g) Administration and prescription of topical ocular
   70  pharmaceutical agents.
   71         Section 3. Section 463.0055, Florida Statutes, is amended
   72  to read:
   73         463.0055 Administration and prescription of topical ocular
   74  pharmaceutical agents; committee.—
   75         (1) Certified optometrists may administer and prescribe
   76  topical ocular pharmaceutical agents as provided in this section
   77  for the diagnosis and treatment of ocular conditions of the
   78  human eye and its appendages without the use of surgery or other
   79  invasive techniques. However, a licensed practitioner who is not
   80  certified may use topically applied anesthetics solely for the
   81  purpose of glaucoma examinations, but is otherwise prohibited
   82  from administering or prescribing topical ocular pharmaceutical
   83  agents.
   84         (2)(a) There is hereby created a committee composed of two
   85  certified optometrists licensed pursuant to this chapter,
   86  appointed by the Board of Optometry, two board-certified
   87  ophthalmologists licensed pursuant to chapter 458 or chapter
   88  459, appointed by the Board of Medicine, and one additional
   89  person with a doctorate degree in pharmacology who is not
   90  licensed pursuant to chapter 458, chapter 459, or this chapter,
   91  appointed by the State Surgeon General. The committee shall
   92  review requests for additions to, deletions from, or
   93  modifications of a formulary of topical ocular pharmaceutical
   94  agents for administration and prescription by certified
   95  optometrists and shall provide to the board advisory opinions
   96  and recommendations on such requests. The formulary shall
   97  consist of those topical ocular pharmaceutical agents which the
   98  certified optometrist is qualified to use in the practice of
   99  optometry. The board shall establish, add to, delete from, or
  100  modify the formulary by rule. Notwithstanding any provision of
  101  chapter 120 to the contrary, the formulary rule shall become
  102  effective 60 days from the date it is filed with the Secretary
  103  of State.
  104         (b) The formulary may be added to, deleted from, or
  105  modified according to the procedure described in paragraph (a).
  106  Any person who requests an addition, deletion, or modification
  107  of an authorized topical ocular pharmaceutical agent shall have
  108  the burden of proof to show cause why such addition, deletion,
  109  or modification should be made.
  110         (c) The State Surgeon General shall have standing to
  111  challenge any rule or proposed rule of the board pursuant to s.
  112  120.56. In addition to challenges for any invalid exercise of
  113  delegated legislative authority, the administrative law judge,
  114  upon such a challenge by the State Surgeon General, may declare
  115  all or part of a rule or proposed rule invalid if it:
  116         1. Does not protect the public from any significant and
  117  discernible harm or damages;
  118         2. Unreasonably restricts competition or the availability
  119  of professional services in the state or in a significant part
  120  of the state; or
  121         3. Unnecessarily increases the cost of professional
  122  services without a corresponding or equivalent public benefit.
  123  
  124  However, there shall not be created a presumption of the
  125  existence of any of the conditions cited in this subsection in
  126  the event that the rule or proposed rule is challenged.
  127         (d) Upon adoption of the formulary required by this
  128  section, and upon each addition, deletion, or modification to
  129  the formulary, the board shall mail a copy of the amended
  130  formulary to each certified optometrist and to each pharmacy
  131  licensed by the state.
  132         (3) A certified optometrist shall be issued a prescriber
  133  number by the board. Any prescription written by a certified
  134  optometrist for a topical ocular pharmaceutical agent pursuant
  135  to this section shall have the prescriber number printed
  136  thereon.
  137         Section 4. Subsection (3) of section 463.0057, Florida
  138  Statutes, is amended to read:
  139         463.0057 Optometric faculty certificate.—
  140         (3) The holder of a faculty certificate may engage in the
  141  practice of optometry as permitted by this section, but may not
  142  administer or prescribe topical ocular pharmaceutical agents
  143  unless the certificateholder has satisfied the requirements of
  144  s. 463.006(1)(b)4. and 5.
  145         Section 5. Subsections (2) and (3) of section 463.006,
  146  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  147         463.006 Licensure and certification by examination.—
  148         (2) The examination shall consist of the appropriate
  149  subjects, including applicable state laws and rules and general
  150  and ocular pharmacology with emphasis on the use topical
  151  application and side effects of ocular pharmaceutical agents.
  152  The board may by rule substitute a national examination as part
  153  or all of the examination and may by rule offer a practical
  154  examination in addition to the written examination.
  155         (3) Each applicant who successfully passes the examination
  156  and otherwise meets the requirements of this chapter is entitled
  157  to be licensed as a practitioner and to be certified to
  158  administer and prescribe topical ocular pharmaceutical agents in
  159  the diagnosis and treatment of ocular conditions.
  160         Section 6. Subsection (1) of section 483.035, Florida
  161  Statutes, is amended to read:
  162         483.035 Clinical laboratories operated by practitioners for
  163  exclusive use; licensure and regulation.—
  164         (1) A clinical laboratory operated by one or more
  165  practitioners licensed under chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter
  166  460, chapter 461, chapter 462, chapter 463, or chapter 466,
  167  exclusively in connection with the diagnosis and treatment of
  168  their own patients, must be licensed under this part and must
  169  comply with the provisions of this part, except that the agency
  170  shall adopt rules for staffing, for personnel, including
  171  education and training of personnel, for proficiency testing,
  172  and for construction standards relating to the licensure and
  173  operation of the laboratory based upon and not exceeding the
  174  same standards contained in the federal Clinical Laboratory
  175  Improvement Amendments of 1988 and the federal regulations
  176  adopted thereunder.
  177         Section 7. Subsection (7) of section 483.041, Florida
  178  Statutes, is amended to read:
  179         483.041 Definitions.—As used in this part, the term:
  180         (7) “Licensed practitioner” means a physician licensed
  181  under chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter 460, or chapter 461, or
  182  chapter 463; a dentist licensed under chapter 466; a person
  183  licensed under chapter 462; or an advanced registered nurse
  184  practitioner licensed under part I of chapter 464; or a duly
  185  licensed practitioner from another state licensed under similar
  186  statutes who orders examinations on materials or specimens for
  187  nonresidents of the State of Florida, but who reside in the same
  188  state as the requesting licensed practitioner.
  189         Section 8. Subsection (5) of section 483.181, Florida
  190  Statutes, is amended to read:
  191         483.181 Acceptance, collection, identification, and
  192  examination of specimens.—
  193         (5) A clinical laboratory licensed under this part must
  194  accept a human specimen submitted for examination by a
  195  practitioner licensed under chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter
  196  460, chapter 461, chapter 462, chapter 463, s. 464.012, or
  197  chapter 466, if the specimen and test are the type performed by
  198  the clinical laboratory. A clinical laboratory may only refuse a
  199  specimen based upon a history of nonpayment for services by the
  200  practitioner. A clinical laboratory shall not charge different
  201  prices for tests based upon the chapter under which a
  202  practitioner submitting a specimen for testing is licensed.
  203         Section 9. Subsection (21) of section 893.02, Florida
  204  Statutes, is amended to read:
  205         893.02 Definitions.—The following words and phrases as used
  206  in this chapter shall have the following meanings, unless the
  207  context otherwise requires:
  208         (21) “Practitioner” means a physician licensed pursuant to
  209  chapter 458, a dentist licensed pursuant to chapter 466, a
  210  veterinarian licensed pursuant to chapter 474, an osteopathic
  211  physician licensed pursuant to chapter 459, a naturopath
  212  licensed pursuant to chapter 462, an optometrist certified
  213  pursuant to chapter 463 to administer and prescribe ocular
  214  pharmaceutical agents, or a podiatric physician licensed
  215  pursuant to chapter 461, provided such practitioner holds a
  216  valid federal controlled substance registry number.
  217         Section 10. Subsection (1) of section 893.05, Florida
  218  Statutes, is amended to read:
  219         893.05 Practitioners and persons administering controlled
  220  substances in their absence.—
  221         (1) A practitioner, in good faith and in the course of his
  222  or her professional practice only, may prescribe, administer,
  223  dispense, mix, or otherwise prepare a controlled substance, or
  224  the practitioner may cause the same to be administered by a
  225  licensed nurse or an intern practitioner under his or her
  226  direction and supervision only, except that an optometrist
  227  certified pursuant to chapter 463 to administer and prescribe
  228  ocular pharmaceutical agents may not administer or prescribe any
  229  controlled substance listed on Schedule I or Schedule II of s.
  230  893.03. A veterinarian may so prescribe, administer, dispense,
  231  mix, or prepare a controlled substance for use on animals only,
  232  and may cause it to be administered by an assistant or orderly
  233  under the veterinarian’s direction and supervision only.
  234         Section 11. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.

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