Lawmakers say it’s OK for optometrists to make injections

ATLANTA (AP) – A group of Georgia senators has decided that it’s OK for optometrists, who are not medical doctors, to perform injections around the eye.

State law now requires that only ophthalmologists, who have at least four additional years of medical training, perform injections.

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee Thursday approved a bill allowing the practice in certain circumstances after an optometrist has completed a 30-hour training.

Ophthalmologists testified that the training was “grossly insufficient” to be able to ensure patient safety and handle any complications that could arise.

Optometrists countered that they were not injecting into the globe of the eye and claimed that there were no documented malpractice due to injections.

Republican Sen. Ben Watson of Savannah called that claim disingenuous and cautioned against conflating complications with malpractice.

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