Poll Shows Few Kentuctuckians Support the New Optometric Law

The first bill to be signed into law in the 2011 General Assembly didn’t go over well with a majority of Kentuckians surveyed in the cn|2 Poll.

And it wasn’t by an eyelash.

Just 15% of the 804 respondents in this week’s cn|2 Poll said they agreed with the proposal that now allows optometrists to perform certain eye surgeries. Up to the passage of Senate Bill 110, optometrists were licensed to perform eye exams, diagnose problems and prescribe corrective lenses.

S.B. 110, which Gov. Steve Beshear signed into law last week, allows optometrists to perform certain surgeries including several using lasers. That had been the domain of ophthalmologists — eye doctors who have medical degrees.

In the cn|2 Poll, 79% of respondents said any surgery should be performed by ophthalmologists.

But the cn|2 Poll results showed the most opposition to optometrists performing surgeries came in the most rural areas. In the 1st Congressional District covering western and southern Kentucky, nearly 87% said surgeries should be performed by an ophthalmologist and nearly 84% said that in the 5th Congressional District in eastern Kentucky.

Via cn|2 Poll: Few in Ky. support optometrist bill that was first to pass legislature in '11

It is time for physicians to be united to put the patient's safety first in order to thwart the special interest groups to advance their agenda and dictate how to practice medicine. Collective bargaining right of union workers have been on all over the news, where is the physicians' collective bargaining right? We are facing the impending medicare and medicaid reimbursement cuts at the mercy of the politicians.