PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
TO OPTOMETRY ACT
Since 2011, Ontario optometrists have been authorized to
prescribe drugs for the treatment of conditions of the eye
and vision system.
The Designated Drugs and Standards of Practice Regulation,
in Schedule 1, lists the drugs optometrists can prescribe.
It has been the experience of the College that a list of drugs in
regulation is difficult to revise, and creates a barrier to
access to newer drugs, which are often the indicated best
treatment for patients. The College is proposing to amend
this regulation by abandoning the list of drugs and replacing
it with the authority to prescribe all topical and oral drugs
within the scope of practice of optometry.
Safeguards related to the prescribing of several categories
of oral drugs are included, through regulatory standards
that require immediate referral and/or formal co-management, and the exclusion of controlled substances.
In addition, the College is proposing other
amendments that, if approved, would
- Allow optometrist to remove superficial foreign
bodies from the cornea
- Allow optometrists to dispense drugs for the sole
purpose of trialling a therapy (related dispensing
regulations are proposed under the Designated
Drugs Regulation)
- Specify diagnostic ultrasound as a prescribed
form of energy for the performance of corneal
pachymetry or ocular ultrasonography, only
> www.collegeoptom.on.ca
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