§30-8-2b. Expanded prescriptive authority.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section two of this article, on or before the thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, the board of optometry shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, defining a certification process and drug formulary which is authorized by this section, except that no emergency rules may be proposed. The board shall provide a formulary classifying those categories of oral drugs rational to the diagnosis and treatment of conditions or diseases of the human eye and its appendages, which may be prescribed by optometrists from Schedules III, IV and V of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, article two, chapter sixty-a of this code. The board shall consult with other appropriate boards, including the board of pharmacy, in the development of the formulary. The rules shall further provide for individual certification of optometrists for this expanded scope of prescriptive authority. The rules shall provide standards for education and training determined by the board to be conditions precedent to individual certification authorizing an optometrist to prescribe drugs excluded pursuant to the provisions of section two of this article and included in a drug formulary to be adopted by the board; procedures for certification by the board of education and training courses; procedure standards for certification and recertification of individual optometrists for an expanded scope of practice prescriptive authority, which shall include a continuing education requirement; administrative fees necessary for the certification and recertification; procedures and standards for certification and training courses; procedures and standards for determining successful completion of education and training; and standards to ensure adequate insurance coverage, as well as compliance with the provisions of this section.