00HOUSE BILL NO. 521                                                                                                      
01 "An Act relating to optometry and optometrists."                                                                        
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
03    * Section 1.  AS 08.72.175 is amended to read:                                                                       
04  Sec. 08.72.175.  LICENSE ENDORSEMENT.  (a)  The board may issue a                                                     
05 license endorsement authorizing a licensee to prescribe and use [THE] pharmaceutical                                    
06 agents determined appropriate by the board [DESCRIBED IN AS 08.72.272,] if the                                        
07 licensee or applicant for a license passes the written and practical portions of an                                     
08 examination on ocular pharmacology, approved by the board, that tests the licensee's                                    
09 or the applicant's knowledge of the characteristics, pharmacological effects,                                           
10 indications, contraindications, and emergency care associated with the prescription and                                 
11 use of pharmaceutical agents.  The endorsement expires at the same time as the license                                  
12 to which it attaches.  The endorsement may be renewed upon satisfactory completion                                      
13 of continuing education requirements established by the board by regulation.                                            
14  (b)  A pharmacist or pharmaceutical supplier may supply a licensee with a                                           

01 pharmaceutical agent [AGENTS AS PROVIDED UNDER AS 08.72.272] upon                                                     
02 presentation of evidence that the licensee holds a license endorsement under this                                       
03 section that authorizes use of the pharmaceutical agent.                                                              
04    * Sec. 2.  AS 08.72.175 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:                                               
05  (c)  Notwithstanding AS 08.72.273 and the definition of "optometry" in                                                
06 AS 08.72.300, a licensee may use a laser, x-rays, invasive surgery, and other specific                                  
07 methods, as determined by the board in regulations, only if the board                                                   
08   (1)  determines that the person is educationally qualified to use the                                                
09 method and meets other requirements that the board may establish by regulation; and                                     
10   (2)  has issued to the licensee a license endorsement authorizing the                                                
11 licensee to use the  method.                                                                                            
12    * Sec. 3.  AS 08.72.272(a) is amended to read:                                                                       
13  (a)  A licensee may prescribe and use a pharmaceutical agent in the practice                                          
14 of optometry if                                                                                                         
15   [(1)  THE PHARMACEUTICAL AGENT IS A DRUG TOPICALLY                                                                   
16 APPLIED TO THE HUMAN EYE AND ITS APPENDAGES; AND                                                                        
17   (2)]  the person holds a license endorsement issued by the board                                                     
18 authorizing the prescription and use of the pharmaceutical agent [AGENTS].                                          
19    * Sec. 4.  AS 08.72.273 is amended to read:                                                                          
20  Sec. 08.72.273.  REMOVAL OF FOREIGN BODIES.  A licensee may remove                                                    
21 superficial foreign bodies from the eye and its appendages.  [THIS SECTION IS NOT                                       
22 INTENDED TO PERMIT A LICENSEE TO PERFORM INVASIVE SURGERY.]                                                             
23    * Sec. 5.  AS 08.72.300(3) is amended to read:                                                                       
24   (3)  "optometry" means the examination, diagnosis, and treatment of                                                  
25 conditions of the human eyes and visual system [, OTHER THAN BY USE OF                                                  
26 LASER, X-RAYS, SURGERY, OR PHARMACEUTICAL AGENTS, OTHER THAN                                                            
27 THOSE PERMITTED UNDER AS 08.72.272]; "optometry" includes the employment                                                
28 of methods that a person licensed under this chapter is educationally qualified to use,                                 
29 as established by the board;