New Jersey OD explains ‘controversial’ bill

TRENTON, N.J. — The New Jersey Assembly Health Committee has approved a bill that would empower the state board of optometry to develop educational criteria for incorporating new technologies for the state’s optometrists, including laser procedures.

Assembly Bill 3364 “empowers the state board of optometry to develop specific educational criteria,” said Christopher Quinn, OD, president of the New Jersey Society of Optometric Physicians. “And if optometrists were to successfully complete those defined criteria, it would allow them to incorporate new technologies into their practices, including lasers.”

The bill, which was sponsored by Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May), was approved 5-1 by the committee on March 10. It has now been referred to the House Appropriations Committee.

The State Board of Optometry, which operates under the direction of the Division of Consumer Affairs and the Department of Law and Public Safety, consists of optometrists, members of the public and a government official. “It is important to recognize that the board of optometry is accountable to the consumer, and not just an extension of the profession,” Dr. Quinn said.

Currently in New Jersey, Dr. Quinn said, optometrists have unlimited prescriptive authority for topically applied medications. They are also specifically authorized to administer injections for anaphylaxis, he said. However, New Jersey optometrists – unlike ODs in 36 other states -- are not permitted to prescribe oral therapeutic agents or oral narcotics, Dr. Quinn said.

One area in which optometrists would have the opportunity to earn privileges through training is the area of controlled dangerous substances, Dr. Quinn said.

“This is more of a regulatory mechanism that we want to go into place,” he said. “The optometrists would need to go back to an accredited educational institution and would have to meet whatever criteria has been established.”

Two areas in which optometrists agreed to exclude from the amended bill are invasive intraocular surgeries, such as cataract surgery, and LASIK, Dr. Quinn said. “This specifically refers to LASIK as it is now, with the use of the microkeratome to cut the flap,” he said. “But in the future, if a technology is developed in which a flap does not need to be cut, optometrists would be able to receive accreditation for that.”

The purpose and function of this bill have been “distorted” through statements by ophthalmology in the lay press, according to Dr. Quinn. “There has been a lot of misinformation spewn about by ophthalmology, and they have done a good job of distorting in the press what this bill is about,” Dr. Quinn said. “Of course, the first claim that they have made is that this will allow optometrists to use lasers and do surgery. That is categorically incorrect.”