SB 5874 - DIGEST

(SUBSTITUTED FOR - SEE 1ST SUB)

     Directs the board to establish, by rule, specific guidelines for the prescription and administration of drugs by optometric physicians, so that licensed optometric physicians and persons filling their prescriptions have a clear understanding of which drugs and which dosages or forms are included in the authority granted by this act.

     Provides that no optometrist shall prescribe, dispense, or administer a controlled substance for more than seven days in treating a particular patient for a single trauma, episode, or condition.

     Declares that the prescription or administration of drugs as authorized in this act is specifically limited to those drugs appropriate to treatment of diseases or conditions of the vision system that are within the scope of practice of optometry.  The prescription or administration of drugs for any other purpose is not authorized by this act.

     Declares that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, no hospital that provides health care services to the general public may discriminate against a qualified optometrist licensed under chapter 18.53 RCW who applies for hospital privileges.  For purposes of this provision, discrimination includes, but is not limited to, the denial of hospital privileges to licensed optometrists who seek such privileges to facilitate the performance of any means, method, or procedure within their scope of practice and who otherwise meet all credentialing requirements reasonably related to the practice of optometry in a hospital setting.