Bill > HSB64

This Study Bill amends existing Iowa law to expand the scope of practice for licensed optometrists, specifically concerning the use of diagnostic and therapeutic pharmaceutical agents and certain minor surgical procedures. Key provisions include allowing optometrists to administer specific types of injections, such as sub-conjunctival and intra-lesional injections, as well as local anesthetic for eyelid abscesses and injections to counteract anaphylactic reactions, provided they receive board approval and demonstrate sufficient training. The bill also permits optometrists to supply pharmaceutical-delivering contact lenses, prescribe oral steroids for up to fourteen days without physician consultation, and remove superficial foreign bodies from the eye. While expanding therapeutic capabilities, the bill maintains restrictions against procedures requiring general anesthesia, globe penetration, or the use of ophthalmic lasers for surgery, and continues to prohibit specific surgeries like incisional corneal refractive surgery and strabismus surgery.