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Tennessee injection legislation advances
Legislation that would allow optometrists in Tennessee to use local anesthesia around the eye to perform “primary care treatment of an eyelid lesion” has progressed through health and senate committees, according to the Tennessee General Assembly website.
HB555 passed out of the House Health Committee on Feb. 26, and its companion, SB220, was approved by the Senate Health and Welfare Committee by a vote of 5 to 4 on March 10, according to the website.
Amendment 1 to HB555, proposed by the Tennessee Association of Optometrists, states that optometrists must meet certain certification requirements to perform the treatment and anesthesia; “no optometrist shall use a local anesthetic for this purpose unless that optometrist has met the certification requirements set forth in…the rules of the board of optometry for the administration of pharmaceutical agents in the performance of primary eye care procedures.”
The amendment further states that reconstructive surgical procedures are not covered within this legislation.