Oklahoma voters have answered the question of whether to allow eyecare services to be provided inside Walmart and other big-box stores in the state.
The proposal to allow the services was “narrowly defeated” at the polls, News OK reports.
The Oklahoma Association of Optometric Physicians had opposed the measure, known as State Question 793.
Oklahomans for Consumer Freedom, supported by Walmart, had collected signatures in support of putting the question on the ballot. The group said it wanted consumers to have “more choices, better prices, convenience.”
“It had everything to do with corporate control. You cannot elevate profits above patient health and practice good medicine,” Dr. Jason Ellen, president of the Oklahoma Association of Optometric Physicians, was quoted saying.
KGOU has reported that Oklahoma is one of just three states with “a law that prohibits optometrists from practicing in retail locations or maintaining any commercial relationship with a retail optical store.”
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