The plaintiffs claim the board exceeded its rulemaking authority in allowing the optometrists to perform the procedures.
Specifically, it claims the board did not apply to the state’s Joint Standing Committee on Government Organization about the rule change, provide that committee with a statement from 10 West Virginia residents who are members of the optometry profession and support the rule change, and establish whether eyelid procedures and surgeries are taught at 50% of all accredited optometry schools, as West Virginia law requires.
Arkansas, Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington currently have laws that allow optometrists perform surgery.
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