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6/2/2022
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House passes Rep. O’Brien’s bill providing consumer protection for eye care services
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STATE HOUSE – The House today passed legislation (2022-H 6654A) sponsored by Rep. William W. O’Brien (D-Dist. 54, North Providence) that would protect consumers when utilizing eye care services.
“New technologies continue to change our daily lives and eye care services are not an exception to this fact. The days of having to go to the eye doctor just to get a prescription refilled have been replaced with remote or online services and this bill will protect consumers by establishing needed rules and regulations over these emerging eye care technologies,” said Representative O’Brien.
The legislation protect consumers by developing standards and enforcement protocols in regard to eye care services. In particular, the use of online or remote assessment mechanisms to conduct an eye assessment or to generate a prescription for contact lenses or visual aid glasses in Rhode Island is established within the bill.
The legislation states that such assessments are not a replacement of an in-person comprehensive eye health examination nor can the assessment be used to generate an initial prescription for contact lenses or a follow-up or first renewal of the initial prescription. This type of assessment may only be used if the patient has had an in-person comprehensive eye health examination within the previous 24 months.
The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration where Sen. Frank A. Ciccone (D-Dist. 7, Providence, North Providence) has introduced the legislation (2022-S 2083).
For more information, contact:
Andrew Caruolo, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401)222-6124
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