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New Mexico legislation grants optometry board autonomy
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The New Mexico Optometric Association announced that a new law authorizes the state’s board of optometry to determine scope of practice within the optometry statute.
New Mexico Governor Suzanna Martinez signed Senate Bill 367 into law April 10, and it goes into effect July 1, according to the association.
SB 367 reads: "The board has the authority to determine what constitutes the practice of optometry in accordance with the provision of the optometry act and has jurisdiction to exercise any other powers and duties pursuant to that act."
“Provisions of the new law will allow optometrists to treat the eye and surrounding tissue with any medications including oral steroids/immunosuppressives, oral antifungal medications, oral glaucoma agents and some Schedule II controlled narcotic agents,” the New Mexico Optometric Association (NMOA) stated in a press release. “The practice of optometry in New Mexico was previously limited to the prescribing of topical medications and a few oral antibiotics, although optometrists there currently have the authority by statute to perform minor surgical procedures with scalpels and injections.
“The law will also give the New Mexico Board of Optometry the authority to issue declaratory rulings and opinions on what constitutes optometric scope of practice,” the press release continued.
According to the NMOA’s press release, the bill passed every committee hearing and both legislative chambers unanimously and was supported by lobbyists from the New Mexico Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the New Mexico Medical Society.
“It speaks volumes that we had this kind of support and that we did not receive a single ‘nay’ vote or any opposition during the entire process,” NMOA President Bobby Jarrell, OD, said in the press release. “I’ve spent half my career battling our colleagues in ophthalmology across the country over scope expansion, and this kind of cooperation between the two professions was unprecedented.
“I think everyone – lawmakers and fellow medical providers – realized this legislation made sense for our patients,” he added. “This bill was about access to care for our patients, not just in rural areas but in urban areas where the wait to see a specialist can be months.
NMOA executive director Richard Montoya told Primary Care Optometry News that the association has been working on this legislation for more than 2 years and that no significant compromises were made.
“The language in the bill is what we were seeking,” he said.
Montoya added that no additional legislation is on the horizon. – by Nancy Hemphill, ELS, FAAO