Sec. 351.358. OPHTHALMIC DEVICES, ORAL MEDICATIONS, AND PHARMACEUTICAL AGENTS

(a) An optometrist may not treat the eye for a defect or administer or prescribe a drug or physical treatment unless the optometrist is a therapeutic optometrist or licensed physician.

(b) A therapeutic optometrist may:

(1) administer, perform, or prescribe ophthalmic devices, procedures, and appropriate medications administered by topical or oral means, in accordance with this section and Section 351.3581, to diagnose or treat visual defects, abnormal conditions, or diseases of the human vision system, including the eye and adnexa; or

(2) administer medication by parenteral means for a purpose and in a manner prescribed by Subsection (e).

(c) A therapeutic optometrist may prescribe oral medications only in the following classifications of oral pharmaceuticals:

(1) one 10-day supply of oral antibiotics;

(2) one 72-hour supply of oral antihistamines;

(3) one seven-day supply of oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories;

(4) one three-day supply of any analgesic identified in Schedules III, IV, and V of 21 U.S.C. Section 812; and

(5) any other oral pharmaceutical recommended by the Optometric Health Care Advisory Committee and approved by the board and the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners.

(d) A therapeutic optometrist may independently administer oral carbonic anhydrase inhibitors for emergency purposes only and shall immediately refer the patient to an ophthalmologist.

(e) A therapeutic optometrist may inject appropriate medication for a patient who has an anaphylactic reaction to counteract the anaphylaxis. The therapeutic optometrist shall immediately refer the patient to a physician.

Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, Sec. 14.152(b), eff. Sept. 1, 2001.