Bills · 2025-2026 Regular Session
Relating to: spectacle lens prescriptions provided by optometrists and professional disciplinary actions by the optometry examining board. (FE)
- Introduced, stopped here
- Passes Assembly, not reached
- Passes Senate, not reached
- Governor signs, not reached
- Law, not reached
Unfamiliar terms? Glossary
What this bill does
Plain-language analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, an optometrist may be subject to professional discipline for engaging in unprofessional conduct. The Optometry Examining Board has promulgated rules specifying that unprofessional conduct includes failing to release, at no cost to the patient, a copy of the patient’s spectacle lens prescription or contact lens prescription following release of the patient from contact lens fitting and initial follow-up care. The board’s rules further define “contact lens prescription” and “lens prescription,” so as to specify the minimum requirements for such prescriptions.
This bill codifies into statute that unprofessional conduct by an optometrist includes failing to release, at no cost to the patient, a copy of the patient’s spectacle lens prescription or contact lens prescription following release of the patient from contact lens fitting and initial follow-up care. The bill further provides that the board must define by rule what such prescriptions must include. However, the bill specifically requires that a spectacle lens prescription include a measurement of the patient’s pupillary distance, which is not required under the board’s current rules.
The bill also allows the board to assess forfeitures of up to $1,000 per offense in lieu of or in addition to professional discipline.