§ 5-35.1-1. Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following terms are construed as follows:

(1) "Amplified optometrist" means an optometrist licensed in this state to practice optometry and authorized by the board to administer and prescribe pharmaceutical agents in the treatment of conditions of the human eye and its appendages, including anterior uveitis and glaucoma, without surgery or other invasive techniques, and in accordance with § 5-35.1-12 and all the requirements of this chapter.

(2) "Board" means the board of optometry established under the provisions of § 5-35.1-13.

(3) "Certified optometrist" means an optometrist licensed in this state to practice optometry and authorized by the board to administer and prescribe topical ocular pharmaceutical agents in the treatment of ocular conditions of the anterior segment of the human eye and its appendages (with the exception of uveitis and glaucoma) without surgery or other invasive techniques and in accordance with § 5-35.1-12 and all the requirements of this chapter.

(4) "Department" means the department of health.

(5) "Director" means the director of the department of health.

(6) "Optometrist" means a person licensed in this state to practice optometry pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(7) "Optometry" means the profession whose practitioners are engaged in the art and science of the evaluation of vision and the examination of vision and the examination and refraction of the human eye that includes: the employment of any objective or subjective means for the examination of the human eye or its appendages; the measurement of the powers or range of human vision or the determination of the accommodative and refractive powers of the human eye or the scope of its functions in general and the adaptation of lenses, prisms, and/or frames for the aid of these; the prescribing, directing the use of, or administering ocular exercises, visual training, vision training, or orthoptics, and the use of any optical device in connection with these; the prescribing of contact lenses for, or the fitting or adaptation of contact lenses to, the human eye; the examination or diagnosis of the human eye to ascertain the presence of abnormal conditions or functions; and the application of pharmaceutical agents to the eye, provided, that no optometrist licensed in this state shall perform any surgery for the purpose of detecting any diseased or pathological condition of the eye. With respect to presently licensed optometrists, only presently licensed optometrists who:

(1) Have satisfactorily completed a course in pharmacology, as it applies to optometry, at an institution accredited by a regional, professional, or academic accreditation organization recognized by the National Commission on Accreditation, with particular emphasis on the application of drugs to the eye for the purposes of detecting any diseased or pathological condition of the eye; or the effects of any disease or pathological condition of the eye, approved by the board of examiners in optometry and the department; or

(2)(i) Have successfully passed all sections of the National Board of Examiners in Optometry (NBEO) examination; and

(ii) The treatment and management of ocular disease (TMOD) examination shall be permitted to apply pharmaceutical agents to the eye for the purpose of detecting any diseased or pathological condition of the eye, or the effects of any disease or pathological condition of the eye.

(8) "Pharmaceutical agents" means any medications as determined by the department, except those specified in schedules I and II as provided in chapter 28 of title 21. Notwithstanding the foregoing, hydrocodone-containing medications shall be included as a pharmaceutical agent for the purposes of this chapter.

History of Section. (P.L. 2008, ch. 305, § 2; P.L. 2008, ch. 433, § 2; P.L. 2014, ch. 422, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 457, § 1.)