A. The Board of Examiners in Optometry shall have the power to revoke or suspend any certificate granted by it pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, for fraud, conviction of crime, unprofessional and unethical conduct, alcohol or narcotic impairment, exorbitant charges, false representation of goods, gross incompetency, contagious disease, any violation of any rule or regulation promulgated by the Board pursuant to the provisions of this chapter or any violation of this chapter. The following acts shall be deemed by the Board as unprofessional and unethical conduct:
1. Employment by an Oklahoma-licensed optometrist of any person to solicit from house to house the sale of lenses, frames, spectacles, or optometric services or examinations;
2. Selling, advertising, or soliciting the sale of spectacles, eyeglasses, lenses, frames, mountings, eye examinations, or optometric services by house-to-house canvassing either in person or through solicitors;
3. Acceptance of employment, either directly or indirectly, by an Oklahoma-licensed optometrist from an unlicensed optometrist or person engaged in any profession or business or owning or operating any profession or business to assist it, him or her, or them in practicing optometry in this state; provided that renting a separate area or room within or adjacent to a retail store pursuant to Section 944 of this title shall not be considered as direct or indirect employment, but any signage and advertisement of the optometric practice shall conform with Section 943.1 of this title;
4. Publishing or displaying, or knowingly causing or permitting to be published or displayed by newspaper, radio, television, window display, poster, sign, billboard, or any other advertising media any statement or advertisement of any price or fee offered or charged by an optometrist for any optometric services or materials including lenses, frames, eyeglasses, or spectacles or parts thereof, including statements or advertisements of discount, premium, or gifts, if the statements or advertisements are fraudulent, deceitful, misleading or in any manner whatsoever tend to create a misleading impression or are likely to mislead or deceive because in context the statements or advertisements make only a partial disclosure of relevant facts;
5. Practicing optometry under any name other than the proper name of the person, which shall be the same name as used in the license issued by the Board to the person; provided that renting a separate area or room and practicing optometry within or adjacent to a retail store pursuant to Section 944 of this title shall not be considered a violation of this section; and
6. Prescribing, dispensing or administering opioid drugs in excess of the maximum limits authorized in Section 2-309I of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
B. Before any certificate is revoked or suspended, the holder thereof shall be provided with notice and hearing as provided for in the Administrative Procedures Act, Sections 301 through 326 of Title 75 of the Oklahoma Statutes. The Board, after the expiration of the period of three (3) months after the date of the revocation, may entertain application for the reissuance of the revoked certificate and may reissue the certificate upon payment of a reinstatement fee not to exceed three times the annual renewal fee. The Board shall have the right to promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to put into effect the provisions of this chapter. The rules may prescribe which acts are detrimental to the general public health or welfare and may prescribe a minimum standard of sanitation, hygiene, and professional surroundings, and which acts constitute unprofessional or unethical conduct. The conduct shall be grounds for revocation or suspension of the license or certificate issued pursuant to the provisions of Section 584 of this title.
C. If an out-of-state license or certificate of an optometrist who also holds an Oklahoma license or certificate is suspended or revoked for any reason, the optometrist's Oklahoma license may come under review by the Board. Should the out-of-state suspension or revocation be on grounds the same or similar to grounds for suspension or revocation in Oklahoma, the Board, after notice and hearing pursuant to the provisions of this section, may suspend or revoke the certificate of the optometrist to practice in Oklahoma.
D. The following acts shall not be deemed by the Board as unprofessional and unethical conduct:
1. An optometrist practicing optometry within or adjacent to a retail store pursuant to Section 944 of this title, regardless of whether the retail store derives income from the sale of prescription optical goods and materials; and
2. An optometrist renting a separate area or room within a retail store pursuant to Section 944 of this title to practice optometry.
Added by Laws 1927, c. 80, p. 120, § 5, emerg. eff. March 22, 1927. Amended by Laws 1937, p. 96, § 3, emerg. eff. April 2, 1937; Laws 1978, c. 37, § 1; Laws 1983, c. 14, § 1, emerg. eff. March 25, 1983; Laws 2019, c. 427, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2019; Laws 2020, c. 161, § 40, emerg. eff. May 21, 2020.
NOTE: Laws 2019, c. 428, § 10 repealed by Laws 2020, c. 161, § 41, emerg. eff. May 21, 2020.