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New law expands prescribing privileges for Ga. ODs
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The Georgia General Assembly recently passed legislation that enables optometrists in the state to prescribe a wider range of pharmaceutical agents and modalities, according to the Georgia Optometric Association.
HB 235 allows Georgia optometrists to prescribe oral hydrocodone for 48 hours without needing to consult the patient’s primary physician and corticosteroids for up to 14 days. It also allows the use of any appropriate distribution method to deliver therapies, including any new vehicles, such as nasal sprays and contact lenses, provided they are neither surgical nor injectable, Bryan Markowitz, executive director and lobbyist for the Georgia Optometric Association, told Primary Care Optometry News.
The new law also requires optometrists older than 65 to take continuing education courses; the previous law absolved them, Markowitz said
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed the bill into law in early May, and it is effective immediately, according to Markowitz.