Virginia Regulatory Town Hall View Action

Department of Health Professions

Board of Optometry

Regulations of the Virginia Board of Optometry [18 VAC 105 ‑ 20]

Action:

Prescribing of opioids

General Information

Action Summary	Emergency regulations for optometrists prescribing of controlled substances containing opioids are being promulgated as emergency regulations to address the opioid abuse crisis in Virginia. Regulations for the management of acute pain require prescribing a dosage not to exceed seven days and include requirements for the evaluation of the patient and limitations on quantity. Regulations provide requirements for prescribing an opioid beyond seven days to include a re-evaluation of the patient, check of the Prescription Monitoring Program, and specific information in the patient record. Finally, if a TPA-certified optometrist finds an opioid prescription for chronic pain is necessary, he or she is required to refer the patient to a physician or comply with Board of Medicine regulation for managing chronic pain.
Chapters Affected	Only affects this chapter.
Executive Branch Review	This action will go through the normal Executive Branch Review process.
RIS Project	Yes [005205]
New Periodic Review	This action will not be used to conduct a new periodic review.

Stages

Stages associated with this regulatory action.

Stage ID	Stage Type	Status
8035	Emergency/NOIRA	Stage complete. Emergency regulation was set to expire on 04/28/2019 and was extended until 10/28/2019.
8222	Proposed	Stage complete. Comment period ended 04/05/2019.
8682	Final	Stage complete. This regulation became effective on 11/13/2019.

Contact Information

Name / Title:	Leslie L. Knachel / Executive Director
Address:	9960 Mayland Drive Suite 300 Henrico, VA 23233
Email Address:	leslie.knachel@dhp.virginia.gov
Phone:	(804)597-4130 FAX: (804)527-4471 TDD: ()-

This person is the primary contact for this board.