From the Ameican Academy of Ophthalmology
Advocacy efforts preserve quality of care for eye patients

In a major victory for patient safety, the New Mexico Academy of Ophthalmology, and the New Mexico Medical Society, in partnership with the Academy, successfully amended dangerous legislation in the New Mexico State Senate last week. The legislation would have given the New Mexico Board of Optometry sole authority to determine what constitutes the practice of optometry.

Education efforts to expose threats to patient safety and highlight the importance of legislative oversight of scope of practice laws led to amendment of the bill. Lawmakers removed the provision that would have given the Board sole authority to determine optometry’s scope of practice.  The bill now moves to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration.

Enactment of this provision would have rescinded the state legislature’s authority to pass laws regarding the practice of optometry. The optometry board would have been able to unilaterally determine optometric scope of practice, including laser surgery, and the expansion of their limited authority to perform scalpel eyelid procedures.
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