Fyi

[JR]

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January 29, 2007
New Mexico Optometrists Introduce Sweeping Surgery Bill

Patient safety has been put in serous jeopardy with last week's introduction of a bill that would add surgery to the optometric practice act in New Mexico. This bill extends far beyond the dangerous expansion bill that the Surgical Scope Fund helped defeat in 2005. Please join our fight with an immediate contribution.

This new legislation (S.B.367) exposes all of our patients to serious risk by:

allowing optometrists to perform invasive procedures such as removal of conjunctival and lid lesions, including tumors!
authorizing the N.M. Optometry Board to certify optometric use of SLTs, ALTs, YAG capsulotomies, YAG PIs and ARGON PIs!
permitting optometrists to administer a host of pharmaceuticals, including intravenous drugs (FA), local anesthetics and oral steroids!
We are working closely with the New Mexico Academy of Ophthalmology to aggressively defend M.D./D.O.-only eye surgery.

Please assist in our effort with an immediate contribution to the Surgical Scope Fund. Your support is an invaluable part of our mission to preserve the highest standards of surgical eye care..




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American Academy of Ophthalmology
Governmental Affairs Division
Suite 700 | 1101 Vermont Avenue, NW | Washington, D.C. 20005-3570
Tel. 202.737.6662 | Fax 202.737.7061 | www.aao.org

 

[rubensan]

It is very alarming that a bill that was shot down 2 years ago in this very state has been reintroduced in a more agressive form. To all of you who have matched into ophthalmology this year CONGRATULATIONS! You have joined an awesome specialty. But you are NOW obligated to protect the field that you worked so hard to join. What does that mean? It means writing your senators and congressmen about protecting the scope of ophthalmic practice, especially if you live in states where optometry is agressively trying to expand its own scope (OK, IL, NM). It means browsing the following websites just as frequently as you browse SDN:

http://www.aao.org/newsroom/recent_releases.cfm
http://www.aao.org/careers/yo/index.cfm

It means contributing to the AAO to protect our field.

In the words of one of our moderators, "Surgery by Surgeons!"

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

It is very alarming that a bill that was shot down 2 years ago in this very state has been reintroduced in a more agressive form. To all of you who have matched into ophthalmology this year CONGRATULATIONS! You have joined an awesome specialty. But you are NOW obligated to protect the field that you worked so hard to join. What does that mean? It means writing your senators and congressmen about protecting the scope of ophthalmic practice, especially if you live in states where optometry is agressively trying to expand its own scope (OK, IL, NM). It means browsing the following websites just as frequently as you browse SDN:

What's going on in Illinois?

 

[Frumps]

Should we post this in the general forum?

I am a PGY-1 and haven't even started my ophthalmology residency yet, but will do what I can. I think this issue is one that is being fought not only by ophthalmologists, but MDs in general. You see it in primary care, pyschiatry, anesthesia, orthopedics, etc. I think we as physicians should be fighting this encroachment by midlevels in order to keep the quality of care we have for our patients. Considering that optometrists vastly outnumber ophthalmologists, we could really use the help of our physician colleagues in this matter and should be willing to help with their issues also.

 

[rubensan]

i include IL as an example of how SOME optometrists want it both ways. In 2001, optometrists successfully passed SB 528 through IL legislature which prohibited anyone other than an optometrist from performing "acts, tasks, or functions that require professional judgment that are primarily performed in the lawful practice of optometry." we all know what happened a few years later in OK. to be honest, i understand the pressures that optometrists face. all you have to do is go to the optometry forum and search the keyword "walmart" to learn how this bohemith is affecting their business. it's easy to understand why they want to expand their scope since their own turf is being invaded. does it mean that they should be able to prescribe gtts for glaucoma and do LASIK? i have yet to hear a convincing argument to support these claims.

What's going on in Illinois?