re: Optometry: LA HB 1065/SB 568: What if your Louisiana Eye Surgeon is NOT an MD?

Like any script? Like for arthritis and blood pressure meds?

The personal attacks, misinformation, and just plain ole butt hurt is going to make today's victory very sweet. No one who has posted on here has a clue as to what our board autonomy piece in the bill means. Believe what you will. I treat far more sinister ocular disease than OPC and chalazions every day. My patients trust and respect my knowledge and decision making.

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The personal attacks, misinformation, and just plain ole butt hurt is going to make today's victory very sweet.

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Chill out Baron

If you pay off the right people the possibilities are endless.

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Blind Eye

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I don't know enough about the field to say whether you are qualified enough. But you come in here bashing people who are against it. I have 2 simple questions for you Optometrists.

Did you not know what kind of profession you were going into?
If you wanted to perform surgery why didn't you go to medical school?

I don't think it will matter that much. NP's have not put a dent in our practices. The only ones I've seen suffer were docs that had become nothing more than overpaid NP's themselves. I've seen a change in medicine over the years in that doctors seem to be lazier and less and less likely to care for the more difficult cases we were trained to handle. Perhaps letting in these other providers will spur us to prove our worth and elevate the overall quality of care. Although ophthalmology is much different than primary care. I've seen them put off such "minor" procedures for weeks despite pt discomfort. Hell I do most of the chalazions and other minor procedures myself out of necessity. I would guarantee an optometrist has more experience/knowledge about the eye than I do. That is here in south Arkansas, but I see it in other fields. Hell, I don't see why a NP or PA can't do EGD's/Colons. And I believe do in some states.

Some might call it decline while others might call it better access to care. I guess there are always two ways of looking at these issues.

I get called enough at home, at midnight, for my own patients.

An ophthalmologist alerted me to issues that led to the diagnosis of a non-malignant brain tumor when I was in college (he saw some issues with my optic nerve when he was examining me - "it was choked"). It left my optic nerve where it permanently looks like I still have a brain tumor.

I live in a small town so I see an optometrist for my eyeglass prescriptions. She never says a word about my optic nerve.