This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
More states sanction sale of contact lenses containing medication
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
North Dakota and Connecticut have joined a number of other states in legalizing the sale of drug-eluting contact lenses pending the commercial availability of the technology.
The new law in North Dakota, formerly known as SB-2164, was introduced to amend and reenact a portion of the North Dakota Century Code related to therapeutic pharmaceutical agents. The addition, Kristin Engstrom, OD, president of the North Dakota Optometric Association said, will allow optometrists in the state to continue providing the best care for patients.
“It basically allows us to do the things we’ve already been doing: prescribing contacts and prescribing medication … we’re just putting it together,” Dr. Engstrom told Primary Care Optometry News. “Previously we were able to sell contacts, but we could not dispense medications from our office. That’s why we had to go back and change the statute to allow us to sell contact lenses and ophthalmic devices that are classified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a drug.”
Connecticut also had to change the statute that had previously prohibited them from selling therapeutic contact lenses, Brian Lynch, OD, the legislative chair for the Connecticut Association of Optometrists (CAO), said in an interview.
 |
“Connecticut’s scope of practice allows us to prescribe any eye drop that is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of eye disease, but the contact lens bill addressed a shortcoming on the ‘supply’ side of therapeutic contact lenses,” he said. “Because pharmacies in this state do not sell contact lenses, the patient was going to be left in a position that if an optometrist prescribed it for them, they wouldn’t be able to obtain it.
“So, this bill recognized the distribution problem and addressed it as such that the patient will be able to purchase a contact lens that has a therapeutic agent in it from their local optometrist or ophthalmologist,” he continued.
The ‘eye drop bill’
Nicknamed the “eye drop bill,” HB-6540 was also introduced in Connecticut to ensure that patients who needed their eye drop medication before the 30-day window had elapsed could refill without having to wait.
This bill will be a great help to individuals who might have difficulty instilling the drops, Dr. Lynch said, as a common problem among eye drop users is that they frequently miss their target when attempting to put them in.
“Insurance groups will allow a patient to get a 30-day supply of a particular medication, and many of our elderly who are using these glaucoma medications are not very adept at putting drops in,” he said. “If the bottle has a 30-day supply in it, and they miss a couple drops, they’ll fall shy of their 30-day window. The insurance companies then say they can’t refill the prescription because 30 days are not up, and the patient would have to refrain from using their medications until they could get a refill again.
“What this bill says is that insurance companies cannot stop a patient from getting their medication, even if they come in within that 30-day window,” Dr. Lynch continued. “Also, if a patient needs a medication and the prescription is expired, the pharmacy can call the doctor and ask if they authorize it, which was one of pharmacy’s concerns.”
According to the CAO newsletter, HB-6540 was signed into law on June 18 and will be in effect Jan. 1, 2010.
Protective eye wear
Another law passed with the support of optometry in Connecticut was SB-825, a bill sponsored by a legislator to mandate that minors engaged in a paintball event taking place at a commercial facility must wear protective eye wear.
“The legislation was not proposed by the optometric association, but we supported this bill and helped with its passage,” Dr. Lynch said.
According to the CAO monthly newsletter, the bill was signed into law on June 9 and will come into effect on Oct. 1.
For more information:
- Kristin Engstrom, OD, is the president of the North Dakota Optometric Association and can be reached at 4731 13th Ave. South, Fargo, ND 58103; (701) 281-2746; e-mail: kfeodpc@ideaone.net.
- Brian Lynch, OD, is the legislative chair of the Connecticut Association of Optometrists and can be reached at 35 Cold Spring Road, Suite 211, Rocky Hill, CT 06067; (860) 529-1900; e-mail: lynch_brian_dr_203@sbcglobal.net.