HBA-CCH H.B. 1877 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1877
By: Gray
Public Health
2/25/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The Texas Contact Lens Prescription Act (Act) provides consumers with
direct access to their contact lens prescriptions.  However, some consumers
are still encountering difficulty in accessing their contact lens
prescriptions and getting their prescriptions filled by outside dispensers.
House Bill 1877 clarifies the Act by requiring a physician, optometrist, or
therapeutic optometrist to release a patient's contact lens prescription at
the time of an exam, and to verify prescriptions to those who hold a
contact lens dispenser permit.  The bill also increases the standard
minimum expiration length for contact lens prescriptions.  

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 1877 amends the Occupations Code to provide that a holder of a
contact lens dispenser permit who is not a licensed physician, optometrist,
or therapeutic optometrist (ocular professional) is exempt from the
requirements of the Medical Practice Act and the Texas Optometry Act as
long as the permit holder complies with the Contact Lens Prescription Act
(Sec. 353.005).  H.B. 1877 provides that a written electronic communication
sent from  or received in Texas in connection with dispensing contact
lenses is considered signed if a digital signature is transmitted with the
communication.  The bill provides that the use of a digital signature is
subject to criminal laws relating to fraud and computer crimes (Sec.
353.006). 

H.B. 1877 authorizes contact lenses to be dispensed by a business entity
that holds a contact lens dispensing permit (Sec.353.051).  The bill
authorizes a person other than an ocular professional to sell or dispense
contact lenses, if the person verifies or attempts to verify the consumer's
contact lens prescription (Sec. 353.101).  The bill requires an ocular
professional to provide verification to a person authorized to dispense
contact lenses, if a patient or an agent of the patient requests
verification of the patient's prescription. If an ocular professional who
issues a contact lens prescription fails to respond to a request for a
prescription's verification within a medically reasonable time, the
patient's previous prescription is considered valid.  The bill prohibits an
ocular professional from failing or refusing to respond to a request for
verification of a prescription if the prescription information submitted
contains an error.  The bill provides that a health care professional who
sells contact lenses must post a sign in at least half-inch type in the
area in which payment for the lenses are made, that states patients have a
right to receive their contact lense prescription following the final
fitting of the contacts (Secs. 353.104, 353.156, and 353.158).   

The bill removes the provision that a contact lens prescription must
contain the original signature of the ocular professional and the provision
that the prescription must contain the total number of lenses prescribed
for disposable contact lenses (Sec. 353.152).  The bill prohibits an ocular
professional from issuing a contact lens prescription that expires before
the second, rather than the first, anniversary of the date the patient's
prescription parameters are determined, unless a shorter period is
warranted for the sake of the patient's ocular health (Sec. 353.153).  The
bill requires an ocular professional to authorize a twomonth prescription
extension on a request of an agent of the patient (Sec. 353.155).  The bill
authorizes  an ocular professional to exclude categories of contact lenses
from a contact lens prescription only if the exclusion is clinically
indicated (Sec. 353.157).  

The bill provides that the Texas Board of Health is solely responsible for
enforcing the Contact Lens Prescription Act with respect to an alleged
violation by a business that holds a contact lens dispensing permit (Sec.
353.204).  The bill also provides that it is a complete defense to any
action against a permit holder if the permit holder was prevented from
complying as a result of the refusal by an ocular professional or the
ocular professional's agent to verify a prescription or provide
prescription information (Sec. 353.204). 


EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.