The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Subchapter
006
:
THERAPEUTIC PHARMACEUTICAL AGENTS
(Cite as: 26 V.S.A. § 1728)
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§ 1728. Use of therapeutic pharmaceutical agents
(a)(1) A licensee who employs an oral therapeutic pharmaceutical agent that might prove to
have significant systemic adverse reactions or systemic side effects shall, in a manner
consistent with Vermont law, ascertain the risk of systemic side effects through either
a case history or by communicating with the patient’s primary care provider.
(2) The licensee shall also communicate with the patient’s primary care provider, or with
a physician skilled in diseases of the eye, when, in the professional judgment of
the licensee, it is medically appropriate.
(3) Any communication shall be noted in the patient’s permanent record. The methodology
of communication shall be determined by the licensee.
(b)(1) If a glaucoma patient does not respond to up to three topically administered pharmaceutical
agents within a reasonable time, the licensee shall refer the patient to a licensed
ophthalmologist.
(2) A glaucoma patient shall not be treated by an optometrist with more than three topically
administered agents at any given time.
(3) If an oral medication is required to obtain an adequate clinical response in a glaucoma
patient, the licensee shall consult with a licensed ophthalmologist as soon as clinically
prudent following initiation of the oral medication.
(4) This subsection shall not require that the licensee transfer care of the patient to
the consulting ophthalmologist, but does require that the patient be seen by the consulting
ophthalmologist. (Added 1993, No. 216 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; amended 2003, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; 2009, No. 103 (Adj. Sess.), § 13; 2019, No. 30, § 12.)