State Bill to Expand Optometry Scope Fails in Committee

An Arkansas bill to grant optometrists the right to perform certain surgeries has failed in committee.

The proposal needed 11 votes to clear the 20-member House Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.

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It came up two votes short.

It would have allowed optometrists to “give injections, remove benign lesions and perform certain types of laser surgeries,” according to the newspaper.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jon Eubanks, said it would let ODs more fully utilize their training and give patients more convenient access to care.

Eubanks said he’s not yet sure whether he’ll bring the proposal back to the committee.

Some other states, such as Louisiana and Oklahoma, allow optometrists to perform procedures that were previously limited to MDs.

Read more at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette