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Louisiana falls one vote short of expanded orals
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OAKDALE, La. – A bill that would have allowed Louisiana optometrists to prescribe Schedule III, IV and V controlled substances narrowly missed passing in the state House of Representatives June 14. “We needed 53 votes to pass it; we got 52,” said Louisiana State Association of Optometry executive director James D. Sandefur, OD.
SB 361 was passed 27-12 in the state Senate early last month. The bill also was passed by the state House of Representatives Health & Welfare Committee, but then fell one vote short on the House floor.
Dr. Sandefur said that the issue cannot be revisited for 2 years. “In Louisiana we have regular sessions in odd-numbered years and fiscal-only sessions in even-numbered years,” he said.
SB 361 would have revised the defnition of “diagnostic and therapeutic pharmaceutical agent” to include a narcotic, but no drugs listed in the Schedule I or II classes. It also would have stipulated that an optometrist may use or prescribe an approved controlled substance for a maximum of 48 hours in “diagnosing, preventing, treating or mitigating abnormal conditions and pathology of the eye and its adnexa when used in treatment of disorders or diseases of the eye and its adnexa if certified to do so by the Louisiana State Board of Optometry Examiners.”
The bill would have amplified the law adopted in Louisiana in 1993, which allows optometrists to prescribe only topical drugs, oral antibiotics and oral antihistamines.
For Your Information:
- James D. Sandefur, OD, may be reached at 115-B North 13th St., Oakdale, LA 71463; (318) 335-0675; fax: (318) 335-0677; e-mail: Isao@yahoo.com; Web site: www.lsao.org.