AUSTIN—Texas optometrists scored a significant win on June 11 when Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill that expands their scope of practice to include the authority to prescribe oral eye medications and independently manage glaucoma. The news was first reported by the American Optometric Association. The new law, originally known as S.B. 993, will take effect Sept. 1, 2021. It updates Texas’ optometric scope of practice act to grant therapeutic optometrists’ authority to independently manage glaucoma patients instead of requiring that they be co-managed with an ophthalmologist. Read More