A national group that tests optometrists for licensure in all 50 states is blasting Kentucky’s licensing board, saying it is failing to protect the public or ensure that eye care providers are competent as it seeks to address cases of optometrists who were improperly licensed. The state board’s   efforts allow “invalidly licensed optometrists to continue to practice without demonstrating compliance with regulatory requirements, and continues (the board’s) pattern of concealing information that patients need to make informed decisions about their care,” said the Feb. 9 statement from the National Board of Examiners in Optometry. The national board asks the Kentucky Board of Optometric Examiners to direct any optometrists not properly licensed to cease practice until they meet all requirements. “Until these individuals earn a valid license, they should not independently see patients; they should not perform any procedures on patients, prescribe or dispense medication, provide diagnoses, or perform any other functions that require a valid optometry license,” the statement said. It’s the latest twist in an ongoing controversy over the board’s actions in recent years to waive requirements for some optometry graduates who had not passed all required licensure exams. Dr. Mary Beth Morris, the newly-elected president of the Kentucky board, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The independent state board has broad authority over licensure and regulation of optometrists, as granted by a 2011 change in state law that also expanded optometrists’ scope of practice in Kentucky. The state board, in its most recent action, has given affected optometrists — thought to number about 21 — until 2027 to pass all required exams, including an easier Canadian version of the national test on science and medicine.  And they may take an alternative test approved by the board for Part 3 of the national exam that tests patient skills. Meanwhile, they may continue practicing as licensed optometrists though they will be restricted from performing some laser surgeries. Exit Canadian exam After 2026, all candidates seeking a Kentucky optometry license will be required to pass the three-part national exam, as they had until last year when the board allowed them to substitute the Canadian exam. The move to the Canadian exam sparked criticism from outside groups that said it watered down professional requirements in a state where optometrists have one of broadest scopes of practice in the nation. The board reversed itself at a special meeting Feb. 5 when it voted to end the option for the Canadian exam after this year. In a prepared statement at the Feb. 5 meeting, newly-elected board president Morris, said the board actions were aimed at “protecting the public, maintaining transparency and ensuring a consistent and accountable licensing process moving forward.” Morris replaced the former board president, Dr. Joe Ellis, a Benton optometrist, who resigned abruptly in December amid reports his daughter, Dr. Hannah Ellis, was among 21 optometrists identified by the national board as having been granted licenses despite not having passed one or more of the required exams. Neither Ellis has responded to requests for comment. Morris’ statement said the board does not want to penalize optometrists for following the board’s directives for licensure. Optometrists ‘unfairly targeted’ “Doctors are being unfairly targeted and penalized for following guidance they were given by the board,” it said. Morris also said some optometrists who had not met requirements for licensure have since done so but declined to identify them. Optometrists hold a four-year doctorate of optometry but are not medical doctors, like ophthalmologists, with advanced training in eye care and surgery, Vicki Rutledge, an Oklahoma woman who said she was blinded in one eye by an optometrist performing a laser procedure, said she wishes she had known the difference. Now an advocate with the organization safeeyesamerica.org, Rutledge said she didn’t realize the difference between an optometrist and medical doctor when she underwent a cataract procedure in 2018. “My heart breaks for those patients who are uneducated about the process,” she said. Rutledge said she advocates for better informed patients and stringent licensure standards for eye care providers. In Kentucky, the controversy arose after the Kentucky Lantern first reported that 21 optometry graduates who had not passed all required licensure exams were granted licenses between 2020 and 2023. The waivers initially were granted because of testing and travel restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic but continued after it ended, according to board records obtained by the Lantern. ‘Unprecedented loopholes’ A Kentucky attorney general’s opinion last year found the waivers invalid because they were enacted through internal board action rather than a change in regulations required by state law. It directed the state board to review the licenses of anyone who obtained such waivers to ensure they have met licensure requirements. The state board, at its Feb. 5 meeting, said its actions are in response to the attorney general’s opinion. But the national board disagrees. The new emergency regulation filed by the Kentucky board “fails to comply with the attorney general’s directive” and “creates unjustified and unprecedented loopholes,” it said. The national board calls on the state board to “prioritize patient protection over special treatment of this cohort of individuals and to hold all Kentucky optometrists to the same competency standards.” The post Kentucky fixes still don’t ‘prioritize patient protection,’ says national optometry board appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less